Retaliation
by HannahSakura2010
Summary: 500 years in the future, Earth has been taken over by sentient mutants who prey on humans. The only hope for the remnant of the human race is the Oz legend, which says that special humans from before the wars that destroyed the world are sleeping in a secret facility. These gifted humans are the only hope of saving the world. M for gore. Pairings: AsaKiku, Fraychelles
1. Prologue

**This is the prologue to a story that I've had in my head for the past month and a half or so. It is inspired by the anime movie **_**King of Thorn.**_** However, after the first few chapters, the story line will diverge from the story line of the movie and follow a different direction. The pairings are AsaKiku and Fraychelles, with **_**slight**_** possibility of RoChu; however. Also, slight to no chance of smut; the M rating is for the gore and nasty mutants. This also features a female Hong Kong, because I wanted both him and Yao in this story, but since there is only one male and one female chosen from every nation, they both can't go because they are both male. So I made Hong Kong female. Wang Laidi is fem!Hong Kong.**

**Enjoy the story and please review if you liked it and want me to continue!**

* * *

The ride to the remote island felt like a ride to prison. The little girl sat hunched over in her seat, clutching at her big brother's hand. Yao was looking out of the window with interest. Laidi refused to see the scenery, no matter how beautiful Yao claimed it was. She also refused to look around to see the other occupants of the bus. There were a few scattered, hushed conversations in various languages that she could hear, but for the most part the bus was deathly silent.

_Death. Like their parents._

Yao and Laidi's parents were both killed when a nuclear power plant exploded two weeks ago. Their children had still been home and weren't affected by the radiation. Hundreds of thousands of people had died from that plant from direct exposure to radiation or from the explosion itself. As if that wasn't enough, people started rioting against the government. It got so bad that police had to start shooting innocent people. Then, while the broken siblings were still in mourning, a summons had come for them from a place called _Oz International._ Neither of them had heard of _Oz _before, but the letter claimed that it was a huge company that had branches in every country across the globe.

_Congratulations, Wang Yao and Wang Laidi! _The letter had said, _you have been chosen to represent your country by being a part of an amazing new experiment! A boy and a girl have been chosen from every country to come to a remote island off the coast of Scotland. The two of you have been chosen from The People's Republic of China. An Oz International representative will be arriving at your house in a few days to pick you up. You may bring one bag each with you, containing necessary items for your journey. The representative shall tell you more information when he or she arrives at your address to guide you to the secret rendezvous point. We at Oz urge you not to tell anyone, since this is a top-secret, government level project. We will see you in a few weeks!_

_They didn't even give us a choice,_ Laidi thought. The Oz representative, a middle aged European woman with a shock of bright red, curly hair and a dazzling smile had come within a week. The woman hadn't seemed to care that the siblings' parents had died a little over a week ago; she all but dragged them out of the door, wearing a cheerful (and somewhat creepy) smile. A nondescript black sedan was waiting for them, with two more Europeans. These two were huge men, no doubt there to make sure that they didn't resist.

"Laidi, it's so pretty out here!" Yao told her, yet again. "Come on, stop sulking and enjoy the view!"

Laidi flashed an annoyed glance at her brother but grudgingly looked out the window, just so that he would shut up. The scenery was, admittedly, beautiful. Still, her sight was tinted with dislike for this whole operation. She _did not _want to be here.

Yao, as if sensing her thoughts, sighed heavily. He let go of her hand and instead wrapped an arm protectively around Laidi's thin shoulders. Laidi drew her feet up into the cushioned seat and leaned into Yao's embrace.

"We are going to be okay, Laidi," he said quietly. "I'm here. Everything will be alright."

"I want to go home," Laidi responded, her indifferent mask starting to slip. He voice actually broke. "I don't like that they forced us to be here! They didn't even give us a chance to properly say goodbye to mama and papa! I don't think I'll ever see my friends again!"

"Shh," Yao tried to soothe her. Sarah, their red-headed guide, was looking over at them from the next seat over. Laidi sniffed once and then composed herself, slipping her emotionless mask back into place. Still, she didn't bother to move from Yao's embrace.

"Nerves?" Sarah asked, flashing them one of her bright smiles. "No worries, darling; you'll be in the best care Oz can provide!"

Laidi tuned out the woman's voice as she launched into yet another rant about how great Oz was and how amazing an honor it was to be chosen and blah blah blah. Laidi's eyes were drawn to the window again as Sarah's chatter faded to annoying background noise. The sky outside was bright and beautiful; there was not a cloud in the sky. This was the type of day where their parents would drag them outside and play a game, frolicking under the warm sun. Laidi never knew how much she missed those moments until they were gone. She closed her eyes to block out the beautiful day. It wasn't so beautiful anymore when their parents weren't there to share it with them.

The intercom crackled to life. "Ladies and gentlemen," a perky voice speaking in English said, "we will be arriving at our destination shortly. Please prepare yourselves and have your necessary items, including identification forms and photo ids, ready before you disembark. Welcome to Oz headquarters."

Laidi's head snapped up and looked out of the window. They were passing over a bridge spanning the blue waters of an ocean. The water sparkled under the sun. Laidi saw a land mass in the distance with an enormous structure on it. It looked reminiscent of a castle or something, but more modern. Laidi squinted, but she couldn't make it out yet.

"So, there it is," Yao said. "Oz Island."

"The Isle of Oz," Sarah corrected him. Yao just rolled his eyes at her, making Laidi laugh inwardly.

"Is that a castle?" an accented voice asked from the seat behind them. Laidi shot a glance in the direction of the voice. A blonde man was looking out of the window with wide blue eyes. His wavy hair came down to his shoulders. A woman with dark skin was pressed against him as she gazed out of the window as well. The man's accent had sounded French, even though he was speaking in English. The girl's eyes were wide with wonder, and there was a small smile on her face. Laidi could practically see stars in her eyes. The Chinese girl turned her gaze back to the window. Someone was a little too excited about this. Did they not understand that they were prisoners?

Yao stood up and retrieved their bags from the compartment over their heads. Yao had promised that they would stay together through this. As he sat down with both of their bags in his lap, Laidi took his hand and squeezed it tightly again. The older man returned the pressure. Laidi returned her gaze to the floor, not wanting to see their prison compound approaching.

* * *

The "castle" wasn't really a castle; it was an enormous Gothic style mansion with a few towers piercing the sky with their high turrets. There were also smaller, modern structures scattered around the island. What Sarah claimed was an island was actually a small piece of land in the middle of the ocean. It probably only spanned a few kilometers at most. There were several of these small islands bunched together. This seemed to be the biggest one, though, and was the only one with a big structure on it, although there were some with smaller buildings situated on them.

Laidi settled her backpack more comfortably on her shoulders and clung to Yao's hand. The older man's amber eyes were alert and scanning their surroundings. Sarah was engaging another agent in conversation and seemed to have forgotten them for the moment. Laidi took the moment of relative peace to study her surroundings as well.

She could see the Frenchman from the bus along with the brown skinned girl with him. They were standing a few feet away from them. The girl was hanging off of the man's arm and observing the castle while the man was talking to a young woman with blonde hair, who must be the agent sent for him. There were people all over the island. Most were just milling around with various degrees of excitement or apprehension. Some were obviously trying to fight back tears. There was one little girl, no more than twelve, who was openly crying while her agent, a hulking man with huge biceps, was trying to soothe her. Laidi sighed. She knew exactly how that girl felt.

"Are you two ready?" Sarah asked, bouncing up to them. She clapped her hands. "You two are about to get the privilege of hearing the president of Oz International address you! Aren't you excited?"

"No," Yao and Laidi said flatly at the same time. Yao chuckled and Laidi let out a small smile, while Sarah looked rather affronted.

"That's gratefulness for you," she muttered. She plastered her fake, bright smile back on her face and motioned with her hands. "Right this way, children!"

"I'm 24 years old," Yao said acidly. "Do not call me a child."

Sarah was looking less amused with them by the moment. The agent took a moment to visibly compose herself before motioning again, this time keeping silent. Yao flipped his long ponytail over his shoulder and lead the way towards the massive building. Laidi kept pace with him while Sarah hastened to get in front of him, trying to show that she was the leader, no doubt. Yao rolled his eyes again at her antics but let her pass him.

Sarah led them to the double doors of the mansion. There was a card reader on a pillar just outside of the door on their right. Sarah pulled out a card and swiped it. The doors immediately swung open.

The siblings were led into a brightly lit, modern foyer. While the outside of the mansion clearly was Gothic, the inside seemed to have been renovated. It looked like a cross between a hospital and a hotel reception lobby. People in white scrubs were scurrying around, carrying clipboards. There were some people wearing garb that resembled hotel uniforms or flight attendants as well. There was a front desk against the far wall of the spacious foyer, with at least seven different hostesses at their stations behind it.

Sarah led them without hesitating to one of the waiting women behind the front desk. The women smiled at each other. "I have Laidi and Yao Wang here, the representatives from China," she said brightly, her previous grievance with the pair obviously forgotten, at least for the moment.

"May I see their identification cards?" The lady, whose nametag professed to be Julia, asked politely. Yao pulled their papers out of his pocket and handed them to her. Julia looked them over and typed something into her computer. "Welcome to Oz!" Julia told them. She handed back their papers. "I have your lanyards here. You'll need to keep them on the entire time." She handed them two lanyards with cards inside. It had their pictures on them, along with their names and a series of numbers which Laidi couldn't make sense of. "They have your identification numbers on them as well," Julia explained. "You'll need them to proceed from this point, so take care not to lose them. Sarah knows the way to the briefing room, so you should follow her. Do you have any questions for me?"

Laidi knew they had many unanswered questions. Even though the letter that they had received promised them that their agent would have more information for them, all Sarah would tell them was crap about how great Oz was and how lucky they were. She never told them what they had been chosen for; just that it was government level and top secret. And indeed, there had been a legitimate government seal on the letter. They had no choice but to go along with it.

"No," Yao lied. "Although I presume that the reason why we are here will be explained in the briefing?"

"Yes." Julia looked confused. "But, didn't Sarah tell you why you are here?"

"Nope," Yao said sweetly. "She didn't tell us anything."

Julia frowned at Sarah. "She should have."

"They'll find out in the briefing!" Sarah said in a high pitched voice. She seemed to remember that she was put out with the siblings. "Well, now, off we go!" She all but shoved both of them down the hall. Laidi caught sight of the dark skinned girl and her friend from the bus watching them as Sarah dragged them down the hall.

Laidi inwardly smirked. Yao may have gotten Sarah into trouble. She fervently hoped so. Yao looked a tad bit smug as Sarah ushered them down a long hallway and took a right. None of them said anything until they reached a doorway at the end of the second hallway and entered.

They were in a huge room with a tall ceiling adorned with crystal chandeliers. There were rows of seats facing a raised stage. There were several men conversing on the stage. They weren't paying any attention to the people in the audience. There weren't many people in the audience yet, so they had no trouble finding seats. To their surprise (and relief), Sarah did not sit down with them.

"I will not be sitting in the briefing with you," she explained. "I will be getting things ready for you and will meet you afterwards. If you need anything, motion to one of the servants along the walls there." She pointed to a row of men and women standing at attention along the walls. "They will provide you with anything that you need."

"How about information?" Yao asked pointedly. "You have told us bullshit. We are going into this blind thanks to you." Yao made no effort to conceal the acid in his voice.

Sarah stopped even pretending to smile and opened her mouth to say something back when there was a laugh from behind them. Laidi glanced over her shoulder. Two men sat in a row behind them. One looked European, with messy golden blonde hair and emerald eyes while the other was Asian, probably Japanese. Both were staring at the trio in front of them with interested looks on their faces.

Sarah stared at them for a few seconds before straightening up and leaving without another word. Once she was gone, Yao turned to Laidi with a grin. "The hag is gone!" he crowed, earning a wide smile from his little sister.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I overheard you say that she didn't tell you anything?" the blonde sitting behind them asked. His accent was British.

"Not a thing," Yao responded. "Do you know what we are here for?"

"Preservation," the Asian told him. "Apparently, we are on the verge of a nuclear war or something. They want us here to preserve the human race. My guide was not clear as well, but that it what I deduced from his ramblings."

"Neither was mine," the Brit added.

"At least they told you something," Laidi said. "Sarah only went on and on about Oz itself."

"Oh, my guide did plenty of that as well," the Brit replied. "Did she give you that bollocks about being 'chosen' and how we should feel so honored and all that?"

"That's all she told us," Yao said. "My name is Yao, by the way. This is my little sister Laidi. We are from China."

"Arthur Kirkland," the Brit said. "This is Kiku Honda. He is Japanese and I am from the UK. Great Britain, to be exact."

"Nice to meet you," Yao said, nodding his head at Arthur and Kiku in turn.

"You speak English quite well," Arthur observed.

"Our parents taught us from a young age," Yao told him. "They were both bilingual. Our mother was a translator for a hospital."

"What did they say about the two of you coming here so suddenly?" Kiku asked.

"They are both dead," Yao said flatly.

Both Arthur and Kiku winced. "Please forgive me. I did not mean to pry," Kiku murmured.

"You didn't know," Yao said.

Before they could say anything else, one of the men on stage stepped up to a podium mounted on the edge. The man was huge and imposing; he had a short beard that was cropped close to his face while the rest of his body was heavily muscled. His cold, steel grey eyes scanned the room dispassionately. He set an open laptop on a nearby table and arranged some papers in front of him on the podium. He tapped the microphone and called for attention. Laidi and Yao turned in their seats and faced forward.

The audience had filled as they were talking to the two men behind them. The auditorium was now packed with people. Some of them looked terrified, while some looked excited. The atmosphere in the room was tense as everyone in the audience turned to face the front. The scattered conversations immediately hushed.

The seat beside Yao was suddenly taken by a giant of a man with ash blonde hair. He turned to Yao and smiled politely. Laidi noticed that his eyes were violet.

"I hope you do not mind if I sit here," he said. His accent professed him to be Russian. "There are few seats left."

"Go ahead," Yao whispered and turned his attention to the man on the stage, who was speaking.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!" the man said in English. His voice was deep and gravelly "Welcome to the Oz International headquarters. I hope your journeys were enjoyable." He paused as if waiting for confirmation before moving on. "I am the president of Oz. My name is Winter; President Winter."

Laidi scrutinized the president. Sarah had at least told them about the president of Oz himself, if nothing else. Apparently, he was a kind, intelligent man who desperately wanted to change the world. _We'll see if he matches up to what Sarah described,_ Laidi thought, although she doubted it.

The man continued, "I hope that your guides were able to put your fears to rest about being here. However, I understand that many of you have questions waiting to be answered. In the next hour, I hope to answer those questions. Any further questions you have should be directed to your guides. They will be waiting outside for you after this briefing is over."

Laidi shook her head slowly. Sarah wasn't going to answer their questions. And if this man was anything like her, then he wouldn't tell them anything either. She felt Yao take her hand again.

"The reason why you are here is a simple one: preserving the human race." The man paused for a moment to let the effect of his words sink in. "As I am sure most of you are aware, there have been uprisings in many countries around the globe. People are rising up against their governments. Complete anarchy has been unleashed in several countries. This stems from humans themselves. Humans are a corrupt race." The man sneered in contempt before continuing. "You are the few chosen from each country that embody pure human ideals. You will be saved. It is time for the rest of the corrupt humans on this planet to be subdued."

"You mean to kill people?" a woman near the front yelled. The president's icy eyes shifted to her. "You can't kill innocent people!"

"They are not innocent," Winter told her sternly. "Humans are corrupt. But, no, I do not mean killing everyone. Some will die as a result of the uprisings, yes, but no unnecessary blood will be spilled. Now, please, sit down or there will be consequences." Laidi shivered at the underlying warning in his words. The woman felt the force of them as well, it seemed, because she abruptly sat back down in her seat and hung her head.

"As I was saying," Winter continued, "humans will have to be subdued to survive. The unethical will be stamped out, and the governments will, of course, do everything in their power to regain control. We here at Oz, however, do not think that they will be successful. We are living in an era where people destroy each other ruthlessly. You people, who embody what we here at Oz believe to be the traits of a pure human being, are the only hope that is left. Humans are destroying each other rapidly. I predict that wars will break out in the near future. Nuclear projects in countries have become increasingly more active as of late. The human race will soon destroy itself if this keeps up."

Laidi frowned at the words coming from Winter's mouth. The man sounded like one of those radical cult leaders, preaching about changing the human race because it was so corrupt. She wouldn't be surprised if he started going on about how he was the Messiah come to save humanity. He was speaking as if he was not human himself.

"Oz has found a solution," Winter intoned. "You who are specifically chosen for this event shall be put into an artificial sleep. In other words, it is similar to being cryogenically frozen. This sleep will last until the war and violence has run its course. Your bodies will be perfectly preserved. You will be given an anti-aging agent that will preserve your bodies. No matter how long you sleep, you will wake up unchanged. This drug was developed and tested by Oz. You shall survive the coming catastrophes by sleeping here, on this remote island. You will be safe and guarded here. When the time comes, you will be the leaders of a new age, one where only good, pure people rule the society."

Laidi heard Yao swear violently under his breath in Chinese. She cast a glance up at him. Yao was looking livid. "They're building an army," he breathed when Laidi tugged on his sleeve in question. "They're using _us _as weapons. They plan to use us to take over the world!"

"You think that too?" the Russian sitting beside Yao murmured. "That is what I was getting too." The man's violet eyes were trained on President Winter with obvious dislike.

"And we can't refuse, because these people are a government agency," Yao responded in a whisper. The Russian nodded in agreement.

Laidi heard fervent whispering behind her and shot a glance over her shoulder. Arthur and Kiku had their heads together and were conversing rapidly and quietly. Laidi couldn't make out what they were saying, but they were wearing identical stony expressions. _They must have figured it out too._ Laidi turned back around as the president started speaking again.

"Do not worry about nourishment. Your body will gain its nourishment through a series of tubes that will keep you healthy and prevent atrophy from setting in your muscles. Electronic stimulants to your brain will trick your body into thinking that it has gotten exercise. Also, while you are asleep, your body will not need as much nourishment as usual. I can guarantee that you will be cared for in every way possible. You need not worry about a thing. In fact, I have prepared a demonstration for you today. I will freeze one of the employees of Oz right here, in front of you. A week from today, we will wake him up to show you that there is nothing that you need to worry about." The president motioned to someone offstage. A man walked up, wearing clothes resembling what a doctor might wear in a hospital. He grinned and waved at the audience. No one reacted.

Two other men came forward, followed by another man wheeling what looked like an opened casket. Laidi winced at the comparison. If the president sought to quiet her fears by freezing a man and sticking him inside of a casket, he was dead wrong.

"This is a high tech pod that will house you while you sleep. It is impenetrable, and can only be opened using the control panel here at Oz, so no one will be able to get to you." Winter motioned the man to get into the pod. The man sat on the edge and held out his arms. The two doctors inserted a needle connected to a tube in the pod into each of his arms. They helped him lay back so that he was lying down inside the pod. Laidi shuddered and rubbed her arms, trying not to panic right there; she _hated_ needles!

"These tubes will provide your body with nutrients while you are in sleep. They also contain the anti-aging drug that will preserve your bodies. This will wear off once you wake up and leave the pod." The doctors hooked up some wires to the man's head. "Those wires will provide the stimulants to your brain that will trick it into thinking you were active." The president pushed a button on his computer and the pod slid closed, trapping the man inside. They could still see him lying inside, looking calm. He was still awake and smiling.

"Next comes the gas that will put you to sleep," Winter said, pressing another button. A pale, smoke-like substance filled the pod. When it faded, the man's eyes were closed. "It is a freezing agent, but will keep you alive. A week from now, when we meet back here, I will wake this man to show you that the sleep will work perfectly."

Someone a few rows ahead of Yao and Laidi raised his hand. "How are these things run? Will a power outage affect it?"

Winter shook his head. "This facility runs on nuclear power. It has enough to last for hundreds of years. The nutrients and the agents in the tubes have enough stored to last for hundreds of years as well."

"We are going to be frozen for hundreds of years?" someone else yelled out.

"You will be sleeping for however long it takes," Winter said firmly. "No more interruptions. Questions will be answered in due time." When everyone had quieted down again, the president's iron eyes scanned the room. "We are soon going to enter a glorious new age," he announced. "We will be victorious."

"Victorious against what?" Yao asked quietly. "He is making no real sense."

"I don't trust a word he says," Arthur said behind them. The Brit was leaning forward in his seat to speak with them. "I don't like this at all."

"I don't either," Yao responded. "It sounds like they plan to keep us prisoner here and then use us for their own purposes. And we are expected to just go along with it."

"I hope that I have made your purpose for being here clear," President Winter said. "I urge you to put your faith in me as we go forward together from this point. You have been sorted into divisions. For the next week, you will undergo training seminars with your division. You will learn how to survive in the new world. Your guides will help you. Have no fear; we have not separated loved ones. If you have a family member here, you will be in their same division." Laidi let out an audible sigh of relief. She wouldn't be separated from Yao. "Keep an open mind, and learn what you can. Training will last all day. In a week, the project starts. In the meantime, there will be two dormitories provided for regular sleep. The females will share one dormitory, while the males will share another."

At this, Laidi tensed up again, darting an alarmed glance at Yao. Yao frowned and shook his head at her. "Don't make a fuss here. We'll deal with this afterwards." Laidi let out a breath, trying to calm down.

President Winter was wrapping up his speech on the stage. "I hope you all will cooperate with us as we take the next step into a glorious new age. I shall see you all again at the end of the training week. Good luck, all of you."

The President left the stage to almost complete silence. The quiet was broken by a few scattered, confused attempts at applause that quickly faded. Another man mounted the stage and glanced over his audience.

"That is all," the man said, obviously unnerved by the lack of movement in the audience. "Your guides are waiting for you outside."

One by one, people stood up and headed towards the doors. More followed them. Laidi let out a breath and glanced up at Yao, who was still staring at the stage. His gaze was unfocused, though, as if he was thinking.

"We should probably go now," Laidi pointed out. Yao stood up and they trailed out of the doors.

"There is my guide," Kiku's voice sounded from behind them. He was speaking to Arthur. "I'll meet up with you later, okay?"

"Alright," Arthur responded. Kiku passed them with a nod.

"Yao! Laidi!"

Laidi and Yao groaned in unison at the falsely perky voice. Arthur laughed.

"Good luck, mates," he said. "I'll see you in the dorm tonight, Yao."

"Okay," Yao told him before walking over to meet Sarah, who was waving at them.

"There you are! How did you like the speech? Isn't President Winter simply amazing? I'll bet he answered all of your questions and put your fears to rest, didn't he?"

"No to both of those," Laidi told her. Sarah looked as if a hamster had snapped at her. _She always looks so surprised when we talk back,_ Laidi thought. _You'd think that she would be used to it by now._

Sarah drew herself up to her full height in a huff. "I see your disrespectful attitudes haven't changed!" she said, obviously offended. "You ungrateful little brats would have been better off left behind! Oz doesn't need your types of ill-mannered disobedience! You should have been left to die!"

"Maybe we would have preferred that!" Yao snapped back. "Why don't you just crawl back into a hole, hag, and leave us alone!"

Sarah's face turned dark red in anger and her hair seemed to stand on end. Laidi winced. They had really made her angry this time.

"If you are dissatisfied with Sarah as a guide, I would be more than happy to take you on," a polite voice suggested from behind them.

Laidi turned to look at a young blonde woman in her twenties. The Frenchman and the dark-skinned girl from the bus were standing right behind the woman. She must be their guide. The woman smiled at them kindly.

"I noticed that you seemed…uncomfortable with Sarah on the way here. I would be more than happy to guide you if you would like me to. My name is Liza."

"I don't think a change in guide would help," Yao said flatly.

"Ah, you say that now, but Liza actually explains things," the man said. His blue eyes sparkled. "I could not help but overhear your conversation at the front desk, so I told Liza about it. She would be more than happy to explain things to you as well."

"I will answer any questions that you still have to the best of my ability," Liza offered. She was completely ignoring the death glares Sarah was sending her way.

"Alright," Yao replied. "We'll go with you. You sound like a nice change." He shot a final glare at Sarah and then turned his back on her.

"You can't just change guides!" Sarah said in a shrill voice.

"There is no rule against it," Liza responded indifferently. She waved Yao and Laidi forward. "Anyway, you two, and Francis and Michelle here, are in the same division. I checked."

"Okay," Yao said. They ignored Sarah's indignant squawk and followed Liza and the others down the hall without a backwards glance.

Michelle looked over her shoulder and giggled. "She looks like a cat that someone poured water on: a mixture of indignant and furious!"

Francis also glanced over his shoulder and laughed with Michelle. "Oui, you are correct, mon amour! She is quite amusing, is she not?"

"I'm happy to be rid of her," Yao said bluntly.

Liza gave him a small smile. "Sarah isn't really bad. She just wants to be here," the blonde replied just as bluntly.

"And you don't?" Laidi asked in surprise.

Liza gave her a sad look. "And see all of you young people be used as human weapons? I wish that we had not gone through with this project."

"I like you already," Laidi told her. "Do you know why Oz is doing this?"

Liza shook her head slowly. "Not exactly. I just know that they want to be in control of the world's governments. Oz already holds a great deal of political power, despite being a relatively secret organization. Oz makes everything from canned foods to nuclear missiles, and Oz scientists often help the governments of various countries with their nuclear arsenal. They already hold immense power, but now the President is pushing for complete control. He is taking advantage of the political and economical instability in every country and plans to use you all as weapons when the time comes."

"Conniving bastard," Yao muttered.

Liza looked amused. "Exactly what I said. I can't really do anything about it though; my father is a high ranking Oz official, so I have to do what he says. He is the one who got me this job."

"So no going against Daddy's orders," Michelle said brightly.

"Precisely," Liza responded.

"Does your father support this project?" Laidi asked.

Liza looked sad. "He knows and regrets that you guys are to be used as dispensable weapons, but he can't do anything about it. He does not fully support this idea, but he is not against it either. I think he mainly regrets the fact that many of you are children." She looked at Laidi when she said this.

"What did the president mean when he said that we embody the qualities that Oz deems best?" Michelle asked.

"That's just his way of saying that he wants you because each of you that were chosen has a special talent of some sort, be it fighting, computer hacking, or simply cooking," Liza nodded at Francis.

"Yao teaches martial arts at a dojo near our house," Laidi said. "He taught me too. Could that be what he wants us for?"

"Probably. Are you both really good at it?"

"Good enough," Yao told her.

"Yao is the best. He's gone to nationals and has gotten first place before," Laidi rolled her eyes. "Sensei just doesn't want to admit it."

"I'd say you were good enough for Oz," Liza said dryly. She turned to Laidi. "How about you?"

"I'm still learning," Laidi shrugged.

"She is the most advanced student in my class," Yao told Liza. "Now who is trying to be modest?" he asked Laidi, who shrugged indifferently again. "She also builds fireworks," Yao continued.

"The knowledge of building explosives will be useful," Liza reasoned. "And you know how to fight. That's good."

"What about these training sessions?" Francis spoke up. "What will we be doing?"

Liza sighed. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "I know that they will try to tell you what the world might be like when you wake up; the political systems, the state of the environment, that sort of thing. There may be sessions on how to handle a weapon or how to fight."

"It sounds like you two would excel at that," Francis pointed out, motioning to Yao and Laidi.

"Do you think that the world will be different when we wake up?" Laidi asked.

Liza looked sad. "My father predicts that there will be many wars, possibly nuclear wars. All of the nuclear radiation spilling from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant after that earthquake changed the environment around the site and even made some of the wildlife mutate. I imagine that when the Chinese plant exploded a few weeks ago, it released radiation that will wreak havoc on the environment too. Imagine that sort of effect on a larger scale, a global scale. Even if there are no nuclear wars, there will likely be other wars that damage the land and take many lives. They claim that you will be safe here, and I have to agree. This is a remote, secret island, a good ways away from any land mass. You will be safer here than anywhere else."

"But we still have friends back home!" Laidi protested. "What about them?"

Liza shook her head. "You must hate us," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"You're right; I do hate Oz. But you seem to be okay," Yao told her. His golden eyes were hard.

They had reached a room guarded by two muscular men. "This is our group's meeting room," Liza explained. "Here, you will meet the other members of your division, whom you will be spending the majority of your time with during your stay." She flashed a badge at the men and they opened the door for her. The group trooped inside.

There was a familiar face in the room. "Well, this is a nice surprise!" Arthur grinned when he saw Yao.

"Hello again!" Yao said pleasantly. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"Indeed! Where is that red headed witch who was with you?"

"Off making death spells to give to us, no doubt," Yao replied sweetly. "Or poor Liza here."

Liza looked amused. "I decided to take them on, because I knew that they would be in this group," she explained.

"Splendid!" Arthur replied, flashing her a bright smile.

"Liza actually explains things to us," Francis spoke up. "You are English, yes?" he asked Arthur.

"You are a frog, yes?" Arthur replied, raising an eyebrow.

At that moment, the door opened again and Kiku walked in, followed by a tall man.

"Hello, Arthur!" Kiku said brightly. He smiled at Yao and Laidi. "Hello again."

"Wallace?" Arthur's guide, a middle-aged balding man asked in surprise. "But, your representative is not supposed to be in this division."

Wallace winced. "I was able to make a few changes to the groups," he said, casting a nervous glance at Kiku.

"Wallace-san means that I told him that I desperately desired to be with Arthur-san through this ordeal," Kiku explained. "He saw the, ah, _force_ behind my conviction, and like a dear, he agreed to change the groups around." Kiku cast a wide grin at the man. Wallace, who must have been more than a foot taller than and weigh twice as much as the slender Japanese man, visibly shuddered.

"Good job, love!" Arthur hugged Kiku.

As it turned out, the tall Russian sitting next to Yao at the briefing was in their group too. The last member turned out to be a Korean boy named Yong Soo, who immediately took a liking to Yao and Laidi. He was currently chatting away at Yao, who looked slightly uncomfortable at the boy's over friendliness Yong Soo reminded Laidi of an over affectionate puppy.

"We're just waiting for the group leader now," Liza told everyone.

The group leader turned out to be a tall woman with iron grey hair and matching steel eyes. She introduced herself as "Ms. Humphries." When asked about her first name, she only responded, "It is unimportant. Follow me now, and I will take you to your next stop." Laidi immediately pegged her as the "no nonsense" type; she started planning how best to get under this woman's skin.

Their "first stop" was a large conference room. It seemed as if several other divisions were already here; people were milling around the room and talking. Ms. Humphries led them to a row of seats in the front row and motioned them to sit down.

"Where are we?" Michelle asked Liza.

Liza pulled out a Blackberry. "This is the conference on nuclear developments," she told them. "You'll be given a scenario of what they estimate the world will be like after a nuclear war."

"Won't everyone have died if nuclear war breaks out?" Arthur asked.

Liza shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not," she answered. "This is only a scenario; it is not definite that this will be what the world will be like."

"They will find out on their own," Ms. Humphries had overheard Liza. "It is unnecessary to tell them anything."

"She sounds like Sarah," Laidi said in a carrying whisper to Yao, who chuckled.

"Yes, where is Sarah?" Ms. Humphries had turned her stare on the Chinese siblings.

"Off in her lair stabbing voodoo dolls, I guess," Laidi shot back. Ms. Humphries raised an eyebrow, obviously unamused.

"I took them on," Liza said, standing up straight and looking Ms. Humphries dead in the eye, a clear challenge to the woman to do anything about it.

Ms. Humphries looked like she meant to take that challenge, but just then several men and a woman entered the conference room and silence fell. People scrambled to find seating as the newcomers stepped up to the front of the room. The woman turned on a computer and inserted a flash drive into the monitor while one of the men shuffled some papers at the podium. Ms. Humphries shot Liza another hard stare before standing off to the side. All of the guides and group leaders stood on the sides of the room, out of the way. Liza joined them.

"Welcome, everyone!" the man at the podium spoke up. He was Asian with a slight Japanese accent and seemed way too happy to be there. "In the next hour, we will break down the effects that nuclear radiation has on the environment and the habitats therein, and the effects it has on the world. This is just a scenario; I fervently hope that there will be no nuclear wars in the future." He chuckled as if he had made a joke before continuing. "We have extensively studied the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan and its effects. We took those observations and took them to a larger scale."

Laidi only half listened as the man shot straight into the lecture, showing them pictures of wildlife around the plant before and after the explosion. There was some change in appearance in certain species, and he even had a list of what this radiation does to human beings. She thought about the plant explosion in China. Was this very thing taking effect in her homeland?

After the hour was finally over, they were whisked into yet another conference room. Laidi groaned and Liza looked at her sympathetically.

"Prepare yourself," she whispered, making sure Ms. Humphries was out of earshot. "This will go on all day."

"Can I go to sleep?" Laidi asked.

"Only if you want _her_ to swoop down on you," Liza warned, jerking her head in the direction of Ms. Humphries. "If you thought Sarah was bad, you _really_ do not want to get on _her_ bad side." Laidi groaned again.

That first day was spent in and out of various conference rooms, with hour-long breaks for lunch and dinner. The cycle was finally broken at the end of the day when they were lead into what looked like a gym. Only, instead of workout equipment, weapons were hung on the walls, along with posters depicting soft spots on the human body. This was the room that would train them how to kill people.

"You'll be doing this every day before you head for the dormitories," the coach, a huge, muscled man in his twenties informed them. "I'm told that some of you know how to fight already," he nodded at Yao, who glared back. "But all of you need to at least know the basics. You will not become proficient in just a week, but we can get you started and drill you in the basics."

Kiku, it turned out, was deadly with a katana. The coach seemed totally stunned when Kiku managed to disarm and trip him, along with bringing the katana to his neck, all in less than a minute. "I wasn't even trying that hard," Kiku said, sounding bored.

Ivan was also a good fighter, although he mainly focused on brute strength. He could crack a skull like an egg with a pipe or crowbar, which pleased the coach. The coach deemed Yao excellent and Laidi very good in martial arts, although neither of them knew how to wield a weapon. He wasn't very interested when Laidi told him that she could build explosives, though Liza assured her that there would be both a lecture and a hands-on application class on that. Yong Soo knew the basics of Tae-kwon-do. Francis, Arthur, and Michelle, however, did not know how to fight hand-to-hand, although Arthur was pretty good with a crossbow.

"You can hit the target enough to cause damage, at least," the coach declared while overseeing Arthur. "We'll work more on that."

At last, it was time to go to bed. Laidi felt like she was asleep on her feet as she dragged herself after the others. She was nervous about being away from Yao, although Michelle had assured her that they would stick together. The dormitories turned out to be huge rooms with rows upon rows of bunk beds. _Just like a barracks,_ Laidi thought dryly. It was no trouble for Michelle and Laidi to find beds next to each other. The blankets were standard issue, plain grey sheets, reinforcing Laidi's idea of a military barracks. Still, as tired as she was, it did not take her long to fall asleep.

* * *

"How about here?" Francis suggested. The boys had found a group of beds close together to sleep in.

Arthur shrugged and deposited his backpack on a bed. "This is fine."

"Wait, we are one bed short," Yong Soo observed, doing a quick count.

"Someone can sleep on the top bunk of that bed," Kiku suggested, pointing out the only top bunk available in their cluster of bunks.

"It doesn't have a ladder," Yong Soo pointed out.

"I can get up there easily," Yao said. "Take this bed." He patted the bunk he was currently occupying before getting up and nimbly climbing to the top bunk of the bed.

Ivan grinned at him. "Yao is just like a monkey!" he said.

"Hush," Yao said, flapping his hand at Ivan. "Go to sleep. Liza said they would be waking us up bright and early tomorrow."

"I expect that means five in the morning," Francis groaned. "Michelle will not be happy."

"She won't have a choice," Arthur said, a bitter edge making its way into his voice. "None of us do."

"Let's just make the best of it," Yong Soo suggested, making himself comfortable in his hard bed. "I wonder how my sister is doing?" he muttered, half to himself.

"You have a sister?" Kiku asked, surprised.

"Yeah, she is my twin," Yong Soo said. "When our parents split, my father lived in South Korea with me, while my mother went back to the North with Yong Jae."

"They said that if we have family members here, that we would not be separated from them," Yao said. "What happened with you two?"

"Everyone makes mistakes, I guess," Yong Soo shrugged. "Jae and I don't really talk much anymore. We were both so busy."

"Well, at least you know that she is here and alright," Arthur pointed out. "I doubt I'll ever see my estranged siblings again, not that I'm devastated over that."

"You don't like them?" Ivan asked.

Arthur sighed. "They used to pick on me a lot. They still do at times, because I am the youngest. We just stopped talking eventually. I only ever see them at reunions or when we are forced on each other, and even then it is an unpleasant experience."

A tinny voice suddenly came on over a loudspeaker. _Attention everyone. Lights are out at this time. Please cease any conversations and be respectful of the people around you. Sleep well._

"Well, good night, chaps," Arthur said as the lights went out.

"See you in the morning!" Yong Soo said brightly.

As tired as they were, they were all out soon, although it took Yao a little longer to fall asleep. His thoughts turned to Laidi. She was probably asleep by now. He hoped that she wasn't up worrying. He sighed and turned over in the hard bunk. As much as he did not like this place, it did not look as if they were going home anytime soon.

* * *

Laidi was rousted from sleep the next morning at seven am sharp. She groaned at the bright, cheery, loud music playing through the loudspeakers. In the next bunk over, Michelle let out an irritated growl and pulled her pillow over her head as if to block out the obnoxious wake up call. Laidi sighed and got out of bed, quickly changing out of the clothes she had been wearing and into a change of clothes in her backpack.

As she was zipping it closed again, her hands brushed a hard shape in the front pocket. She unzipped the front pocket and withdrew a picture frame. Her parents smiled out of it. Yao and Laidi stood on either side of them. All of them looked so happy. Never again would there be any more happy memories with the four of them.

Laidi shoved the picture back in her bag before she would start crying and forced her mind to focus on the tasks at hand.

After brushing her teeth along with seventy other women in one of the bathrooms spaced out along the enormous room, she exited the dorm to find Liza waiting outside. At least Liza was a welcome sight.

"How did you sleep? I hope you didn't get too many knots in your back from those unforgiving beds," Liza said, making Michelle laugh without humor.

They met up with the rest of the group outside the dining hall. None of them looked like they had slept well, either. Yong Soo was leaning on Yao, who looked like he was debating whether or not to throw the boy off, when a girl came up from behind them and grabbed Yong Soo around the neck.

"Brother," the girl said, hugging Yong Soo tightly. "I hate this place."

"I do too, Jae," Yong Soo gasped. "Can you please stop choking me, now?"

The girl was introduced as Yong Jae, who was Yong Soo's twin sister. She seemed like a nice enough girl, if a bit over affectionate and hyper like her brother. She did not stay for long, as she was supposed to be eating with her group.

Breakfast was an uninteresting affair, with bad food and little conversation. After that, it was back to seminars and lessons all day. The only high point was that Laidi finally got to demonstrate her knowledge of explosives. The instructor was delighted with her, and kept discussing the different materials that could be made into explosives, while Yao looked on, amused.

Francis and Michelle excelled in a class about how to find and prepare food. Francis, it turned out, was a culinary prodigy in France. Michelle was his assistant. They had appeared on several shows aired around the world, and were attending culinary school when they were summoned to Oz.

"Do not worry, mon cher!" Francis said to Arthur, who was fuming over the remains of the charred dish he was supposed to be making. "My lovely Michelle and I shall carry your dead weight in this department!" Arthur glared daggers at the couple while Kiku could not suppress a chuckle.

Arthur, it seemed, did have proficiency with intelligence work.

"The French are much too flashy," he said superiorly. "Leave the spy work to the British!"

"You are quite good with computers and scenarios," the instructor observed.

"The British government started hiring teenagers to participate in certain projects," Arthur informed them proudly. "I've worked with them as well."

"He thinks he is, oh what is that movie? _007,_" Francis observed, unable to prevent needling the Brit, whom he hadn't gotten along with since the first day.

Yong Soo had a gift with computers. He was a very talented hacker, and even managed to take control over the instructor's computer, much to the woman's chagrin.

By the time they all retired for the night, they were as exhausted as they were the previous day. Laidi fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, despite the uncomfortable mattress.

* * *

The routine continued through the week. Every day, they woke up at seven, ate disgusting food for breakfast, and attended classes all day. At the end of the day, they had training in the gym. Arthur had gotten much better with the crossbow, and Michelle had even picked up on it a bit, although Francis preferred not to fight.

Laidi was extremely nervous to find out what the end of the week had in store for them. President Winter had told them the first day that the project would start after the training week was over. That meant that they would be cryogenically frozen for who knows how long, waiting for the day they would be woken up and used as human weapons. No matter how monotonous and torturous sitting through those lectures were, she was dreading the day that they would stop. She did not even know how this sleep would work. What if something went wrong? Would they be frozen forever? Would it be painful? Would they even dream in this state?

The day came all too fast. That morning, they were woken up an hour later than usual. They filed into the cafeteria and ate what Laidi was convinced would be their last meal. No one was talking. Michelle was practically sitting in Francis' lap they were so close, and even Arthur and Kiku were openly holding hands. Laidi was close to Yao as they ate, neither of them speaking.

Once they were finished with breakfast, they all trooped into the room that the President had addressed them in a week prior. This time, their entire group sat together. Yong Jae had convinced her leader to let her sit with Yong Soo. She was hanging off of his arm, and Yong Soo rested his head on hers. The conference room was silent, but everyone was fidgeting in some way. Everyone was nervous. The pod containing the man that Winter had frozen the week before still sat untouched on the stage.

They didn't have to wait long for President Winter to take the stage. "Welcome back," he intoned in his deep voice. "I trust that you all had a good week. I have heard good things from your trainers and group leaders." The room was dead silent as he continued. "Today is the day, the day when we will take the next step towards world peace."

"In a world ruled by Oz and its human weapons," Kiku muttered.

"I understand that some of you may still be nervous about this whole affair. If you will remember, a week ago, I froze one of my workers in front of you all. I told you that I would awaken him in a week, to show you that this sleep does work. I shall now unfreeze him."

Laidi held her breath as the president pushed some buttons on his computer. The pod glowed blue and the lid opened with a hiss. The man stirred and slowly opened his eyes. He sat up, a smile starting to spread on his face.

"How do you feel?" Winter asked him, moving the microphone so that it was in front of the man's mouth.

"I'm a bit hungry, but otherwise I feel fine," the man said.

Winter nodded. "Yes, the agent will make you hungry when you wake up. That is the only known side effect. Did you dream or wake up at any time?"

The man shook his head. "The last thing I remember is the lid of the capsule closing over me. It is as if no time elapsed."

Winter nodded his head again and thanked the man. The two doctors came back up onstage and unhooked the man from the machine as Winter fixed the microphone back onto its stand.

"You see?" he asked. "Oz's method is foolproof. You will be safe and secure here, guarded by trained military personnel and Oz attendants. This is not the first time that the drug has been tested, either; we have experimented on many willing subjects over the years. It has worked in every instance. I urge you to trust me and the people at Oz as we embark on the next step together. When we leave this room, you will go with your group leaders to the lab, where our doctors will prep you for sleep." President Winter let out a smile, although it looked unnatural on his stern face and did not reach his cold eyes. "Thank you all. I am very proud to be moving forward into this new world with you. Sweet dreams, and I will see you when the time comes." With that, he walked off of the stage to complete silence.

Laidi followed Yao out as if in a daze, clutching at her brother's hand. This was it. They were really about to be frozen against their wills. Michelle took Laidi's other hand as Ms. Humphries led them to their next destination. _The final destination,_ Laidi thought.

They were lead to a room with white walls and a sterile smell to it. They were all given clothes similar to the ones that the man onstage was wearing: a loose, white, short-sleeved shirt with matching loose, white pants.

"We will keep your clothes and personal items with us to be given back at a later date," Ms. Humphries said, moving to take Laidi's bag.

"Wait!" Laidi cried, wrenching her bag out of the woman's hands. "Please! I have to get something!"

Ms. Humphries scowled. "You can't take anything with you, child!" she snapped, making another grab for the bag. Yao caught her arm.

"Leave her alone," he said firmly, glaring dangerously at the woman and holding onto her arm none too gently.

Laidi unzipped the front pocket of her backpack and withdrew the picture frame containing the picture of their family. She quickly opened it and withdrew the photo before handing the frame and her bag over to the woman.

"I just said, you can't take that in with you!" Ms. Humphries cried.

"It doesn't matter," Liza said firmly. "It is just a picture. If it comforts her, leave it alone." Ms. Humphries glared but quieted down.

Yao hugged Laidi. "Remember, I'm right here," he said. "I'll always be right here."

"I know, sensei," Laidi whispered. "But I like having Mama and Papa here too."

"I understand," Yao responded. He gave her one last squeeze before letting go.

They didn't have to wait long for the doctors and nurses to start flooding into the room, carrying all sorts of what Laidi deemed "torture devices." There were syringes everywhere. Laidi thought that she would have a nervous breakdown.

Yao hated needles too. "Are all of these shots really necessary?" he asked nervously as his nurse took a needle out of a package and filled it with a clear liquid from a bottle.

"You're a grown man; you can take this!" an all too familiar perky vice trilled. Laidi groaned. The witch was back.

They hadn't seen much of Sarah throughout the last week. She would occasionally sit through a class with them before running off to bother someone else. Just when Laidi didn't need one more thing to worry about, she came back. That woman had awful timing.

Laidi watched her own nurse with apprehension as she approached with the first of the needles. "Yao," Laidi said nervously, drawing her knees up to her chest.

Yao was immediately at her side. "It doesn't really hurt," he said. "Just a pinch."

Laidi closed her eyes and squeezed Yao's hand as the needle was inserted in her arm. When the nurse finished, she opened her eyes, wincing from the uncomfortable feeling; the needle was still in her arm.

"That way, we don't have to stick you a dozen times just to get all of the stuff into you," the nurse said soothingly.

A flurry of curses sounded from behind her, and Laidi turned around, startled.

Arthur was at the table behind her, a look of pain on his face as the nurse was working on him. "You're much, much braver than I am," he told Laidi.

"The British pig just wants a reason to curse," Francis' teasing voice came from across the room.

"Stupid wino!" Arthur yelled back. "I bet you can't even take one bloody stick!"

Francis grinned widely. "Then, why am I already done, mon cher?" he asked.

Arthur turned red and his glare intensified. "Shut up! You were probably crying inside!" Their banter elicited a few giggles from Laidi, who didn't even notice the nurse shooting the liquids into her arms. Yao grinned and mouthed "Thank you" at both Arthur and Francis.

Finally, the torture was over, and they were led out of the room. Laidi hid the picture of her family in her shirt, close to her heart. Barefoot, they followed Ms. Humphries, who lead them to another room. This room was full of people, who were just milling around. Everyone was wearing the same outfit that they had been given, the one that Michelle hadn't stopped complaining about since they forced her into the thing. Yong Jae was in the room as well and immediately attached herself to her brother. Little by little, the room cleared, and it became apparent what everyone was waiting for: an elevator.

"We are going underground?" Yao asked Liza.

"Yes," Liza said. "The capsule room is located underground."

It was Yong Jae's group's turn for the elevator, and she detached herself unwillingly from Yong Soo. It wasn't long before Laidi's division was up.

"Here we go, mates," Arthur said, his arm around Kiku, as they stepped into the elevator.

A quick ride brought them down to a short hallway that opened up into a huge, cavernous room filled with capsules that stretched from floor to ceiling.

"I'm afraid of heights," Yong Soo pointed out.

"I made sure that you guys were on the bottom," Liza said, earning a glare from both Ms. Humphries and Sarah.

"I love you, Liza!" Yong Soo proclaimed, pouncing on her and squeezing her tightly.

Liza chuckled, but looked sad. "This might be the last time that we see each other," Liza said. "I do not know how long you will sleep. May I just say that it was an honor knowing all of you wonderful people."

"This way please!" Ms Humphries snapped, effectively ruining the moment. She even went so far as to try to grab Kiku to drag him behind her, but Kiku evaded her reach easily.

There was the sound of cracking knuckles. "None of _you _have done anything for us," Ivan said, nodding his head at the guides. The polite smile was gone from his face to be replaced by a dangerous look. "I will not listen to any of you." He turned back to Liza and the smile made a reappearance. "However, I will gladly listen to _you," _he said pointedly. "Thank you for actually explaining things to us."

"I will definitely miss you if you are gone when I wake up," Yong Soo said.

Liza actually looked as if she was going to cry. "I'll miss all of you too!" she said. "I'm sorry this happened to you."

"It is not your fault," Arthur told her.

"Still," Liza whispered. She straightened up. "They look like they are ready to kill. Let's at least walk over to your capsules."

Laidi hung off of Yao's arm as they followed their livid guides and Liza over to a group of open capsules. Laidi could see their names engraved on plaques on the front of them. Her plaque read: _Laidi Wang, 14, People's Republic of China, Division 143._ Her name, age, country of origin, and division number. Why did it suddenly look like a tombstone?

There were more doctors and nurses down here. Some were waiting by their capsules. It turned out that Michelle and Francis were on the second row of capsules. Francis was directly over Laidi's capsule, with Michelle next to his on the right. She was directly over Yong Soo, who was on Laidi's right. Yao was on Laidi's left, with Arthur next to him and Kiku next to Arthur. Ivan's was the last capsule next to Yong Soo. A metal walkway ran along the underside of the capsules on the upper levels, allowing people to walk along them when the capsules were closed. A doctor stood next to Francis' capsule, standing back to back with another one who waited on Michelle.

Yong Soo connected eyes with his twin, who was on the first row across the room. He was memorizing her position, and she was memorizing his.

Liza went around and hugged everyone before they were all told to sit in their pods. "I'll watch over you all as long as I can," Liza promised. A tear did escape her eye.

"Thank you," Yao told her. "For everything."

The doctors motioned for Laidi to get into her pod. Laidi clung to Yao tightly for a moment.

"I'm right beside you," he told her. "Everything will be alright, little sister." Laidi nodded with her head still against his chest before reluctantly letting go. She made eye contact with the other members of her group, one by one, before Michelle hugged her. The woman seemed to have gotten attached to her over the past week. After that, Laidi laid down in her pod.

She whimpered as the tubes were inserted into her arms, both in pain and from the thought of what was coming next. She looked to her left and saw Yao smiling softly at her while they hooked him up too. "I'm right here," he repeated as they started attaching the wires to his head. Laidi felt them doing the same to her. She tried to relax.

"We are getting ready to close the pod now," the attendant informed her. Laidi cast another glance at Yao before the top of her capsule slid closed.

Laidi faced the roof of the capsule and tried to relax. She focused on the bottom of Francis' capsule directly overhead. She could see the doctors on the platform between Francis' and Michelle's pods.

"Hello again," President Winter's voice sounded in the capsule, making her jump. "You are all set to be put to sleep. Let me assure you, once again, that you will be perfectly fine throughout this. Please, put your fears to rest and relax. The gas is about to be released. I shall count down with you. 10, 9, 8…"

Laidi looked to her left again. Yao was in his capsule. She suddenly remembered the picture in her shirt, the one of their family, smiling and happy, and she no longer felt alone. _Please look after us,_ she silently begged her parents.

"4, 3, 2, 1…"

Laidi heard a hiss, and then her vision went dark.


	2. Waking Up

_The dream must end for the future to continue on._ –Yuuko Ichihara, _Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle_

Laidi gasped and her eyes flew wide open. She jolted upright and looked around her. Where was she? She did not recognize her surroundings! She was in some sort of pod or capsule device in a huge, cavernous room that was very dimly lit. Tubes were sticking out of her arms, and there were some kind of wires attached to her head.

Realization came flooding back to her and she abruptly realized where she was. In Oz headquarters. She had woken up! That must mean the trouble was over and she and Yao could finally go home! Speaking of Yao…

Laidi carefully took the tubes out of her arms, wincing as they left her flesh, and scrambled out of her capsule. Her bare feet hit the cold stone floor, stirring up clouds of dust and grime. She wrinkled her nose. Gross! Didn't they ever clean in here while they were sleeping? She glanced at Yao's capsule, which was still in the wall. She dusted off the name plate and read the inscription: _Yao Wang, 24, People's Republic of China, Division 143._ This was definitely Yao's capsule, but why wasn't he out of it yet?

A few capsules down from Yao's, another slid out of the wall with a hissing sound. Laidi jumped. The cover opened, and she ran over to it. It was Kiku's capsule. The Japanese man's eyes were still closed, although he was breathing steadily. Laidi shook his shoulder.

"Hey, Kiku, wake up! It's time to go!"

Kiku's face scrunched up before he opened his eyes. "What?" he asked, his voice hoarse. Realization hit him as well as he sat up quickly and swung his feet over the side. "We're awake!"

"Yes, but no one else seems to be waking up." Laidi walked back over to Yao's space as Kiku removed his tubes. Laidi examined the area. There was nothing that she could grab onto to try to pull Yao's capsule out of the wall.

"Arthur appears to be still asleep as well," Kiku murmured.

"Why isn't anyone else waking up?" Laidi asked, beginning to worry. She tapped on the front of Yao's capsule, as if she could make it open by doing that. "And where are the Oz personnel? Shouldn't someone be here to greet us?"

The capsule beside Laidi's glowed and shot out of the wall. The one next to it shot out as well. Kiku gave a sigh of relief as Arthur shot out of the wall next. Laidi turned her eyes back to Yao's capsule just in time to see it light up. She jumped out of the way as it appeared and the top slid open. Like Kiku, Yao still seemed to be asleep. Behind her, Laidi could hear Yong Soo and Ivan getting out and remarking on the conditions in the lab. She shook her brother hard and his golden eyes opened.

"Go back to sleep, Laidi," he said, closing his eyes again.

"Ni-ni, get _up!"_ Laidi ordered. "Oz has woken us up, but something seems off."

"Oh!" Yao shot up.

"What about Francis and Michelle?" Yong Soo asked, looking up at the capsule above his.

"Why don't we just leave the frog?" Arthur suggested. Kiku rolled his eyes.

It only took a few more seconds for Francis and Michelle both to be freed from the wall. Francis climbed down the ladder first, and then helped Michelle down as well.

"Oi! Why is there dust everywhere?" Michelle exclaimed, standing on her tip-toes as if it avoid as much of the dust as possible.

"Something definitely seems off," Yong Soo observed. "Hello?" he called out, his voice ringing in the otherwise silent room.

Francis clapped his hand over Yong Soo's mouth to shut him up. "Don't do that!" he hissed. "Let's not make any noise yet!"

"This is totally creepy," Laidi said uneasily. She shivered in the cold air.

"Look! Some other pods have been opened!" Michelle pointed out. She pointed across the room where indeed several pods in a section of the wall had been opened. They were empty.

"Some people have woken up before us," Ivan said. "So where are they now?"

"Does anyone else smell anything odd?" Kiku asked in a hushed voice. The Japanese man was standing stone still, looking carefully at his surroundings. Laidi sniffed at the air. Underneath the dusty, dank smell in the air was another stench. It smelled like something was rotten. Laidi watched as Kiku's eyes were drawn to a place over their heads. His face went white, and he slowly pointed up. Laidi shifted her eyes to follow his finger.

Near the ceiling, another section of pods had been opened. A figure was half hanging out of one of them. In the dim lighting, Laidi could tell that it was a human. Or rather, the remains of a human.

Long hair pointed to the probability that she was a woman. She was in a position that suggested that she was attempting to escape from something. The flesh was rotting off of her bones, and in places it looked like it had been torn off by something. Laidi could make out bone in between chunks of rotten flesh. She made a noise half between a scream and a gasp. Yao quickly clamped a hand over her mouth and covered her eyes with his other hand. Laidi turned into his embrace, clinging tightly to him.

"Other sections seem to have met the same fate," Kiku said in a whisper. "Something did this to them." The man paused. "And it seems as if we are next," he observed. His voice shook a little.

"We need to get out of here. Now," Arthur said urgently. "Before whatever did this to them comes for us."

"Agreed. Let's go," Francis said. They were speaking in hushed voices.

Laidi felt a touch on her back and jumped. It was Michelle. The girl's dark skin had gone ashen, and she stroked Laidi's back as if to comfort the girl. Laidi took her hand and squeezed it.

"How do we get out of here?" Yong Soo asked. He suddenly stiffened. "Wait! Yong Jae!" The Korean ran across the room and knelt in front of a capsule. He breathed a sigh of relief. "My sister is still inside her pod," he informed everyone when he rejoined the group. "I need help getting her out."

"There is no leverage to open the pods," Yao argued. "If we can get to the control center, we might be able to get her out, but we need to get ourselves out first!"

"Quiet!" Kiku hissed. Everyone fell silent. "I hear something!"

Laidi clutched at Yao and strained her ears. After a moment, she heard it too. Dull thumps were audible, as if something big and heavy was walking towards them but trying to be quiet about it.

"Does anyone have anything to defend themselves with?" Kiku asked in a deadly calm voice. No one responded. They were all defenseless.

"It's coming from that direction," Yao said, pointing to their right.

The sounds stopped when Yao spoke. The corner that Yao indicated was in shadow; in these dim lights, they could see nothing. Michelle reached out and grabbed Francis' arm. Everyone was staring at the place that Yao indicated; no one was watching the rest of their surroundings.

Laidi heard them first: the soft, almost silent flutter of wing beats. Her eyes snapped up and she gasped.

Some kind of bird-like creature, about as high as her knee, was fluttering down from near the ceiling. It was joined by several others of varying sizes. They perched on open capsules and the walkways. Laidi saw their beaks: overlarge, with sharp teeth sticking out of them. These must be what killed the others. They also had a long tail with spikes on the end of it. More were perched on any available open space. Their beady eyes were focused on the group of humans below them.

Francis and Yong Soo had noticed them as well. "Well, it looks like we have more company," Francis muttered. "And judging by the size of their beaks, we are in trouble." Yong Soo was staring up at the things with his mouth slightly open.

The rest of the group looked up as well, and whatever was hiding in the shadows took advantage of their distraction and charged.

It was huge, with grey skin, and what looked like a rhinoceros' body. It had a long snout, with saber-like fangs sticking out of its huge jaw, which was filled with sharp, pointed teeth. A long, thick tail protruded behind it. It came charging straight at them, it's heavy tread practically shaking the stone floor. At the same time, the "birds" descended from above.

Yao pulled Laidi onto his back and dashed out of the way of the charging beast. "This way!" he screamed for the others, making a dash for the corner the beast came out of. There was a huge crash. Laidi looked back in alarm.

Yong Soo was right on their tail, but the others were struggling to get away from the onslaught. The crash apparently came from the beast, as it was currently trying to get out of the mess of their capsules, which it had apparently knocked off of the wall due to crashing into them. It was recovering fast, however, until Ivan wrenched an iron bar out of the wreckage and slammed it onto the beast's head. The blow didn't have much of an effect; the thing paused, but continued to get up. Ivan instead turned to the birds.

Francis was bleeding from a nasty bite on his arm, Michelle was screaming, and Arthur was attempting to shield Kiku while getting scratched with several birds' long, sharp talons. It turned out the birds were much easier to deal with than the rhinoceros thing, because they quickly fell back as Ivan batted them away. Their bodies must be frailer than that other thing. The rhino, at this point, had finally gotten its legs under it and was turning around. The others dashed to where Yao and Laidi were. Francis and Arthur seemed to be the only ones sporting wounds, although Michelle had a small scratch on one cheek.

Yao had obviously hoped that there was some sort of escape from the corner where the rhino came from, but it was pitch black.

"I can't see!" Yong Soo cried.

Yao backed up and Laidi felt her back brush against the wall. Something felt odd, though. The wall was not smooth stone, but it felt more like glass. She reached behind her and felt around. Her fingers brushed a hatch of some sort. An emergency something or other.

The heavy footsteps were starting in their direction again, this time more quickly. Wing beats started up as the birds regrouped. This time, however, there were more birds coming for them. A growl came from the rhino as it stalked towards them, some sort of sickly pale yellow substance dripping from its mouth and splashing against the floor in large drops.

Laidi wiggled until she dropped off of Yao's back. Yao instead pressed her back against the wall, putting himself between the monster and her. Laidi kept her shaking hand on the hatch so that she would not lose it in the dark and shoved Yao so that he was not pressing her against the wall.

The thing was stalking back and forth in front of them, eyeing them and searching for its first target. The birds were perched on some nearby capsules, watching the cornered humans closely. Seeing as how all of the humans were pressed up against the wall, however, it would be hard for the birds to make an attack. The rhino was another matter.

Michelle was still crying, struggling to hold up Francis, who looked to be on the verge of collapse. Ivan readied his ineffectual weapon, knowing that it was hopeless: they were trapped.

The rhino faced off in front of Yao and grunted, readying itself to charge and pin Laidi and her brother to the wall. Laidi prayed that whatever was in this emergency hatch was some sort of weapon and yanked the hatch back.

Flashing red emergency lights came on, leaving streaks of red across Laidi's vision. The loud wail of sirens joined the lights. The dark corner was lit up, revealing a passageway torn in the walls of the room; an escape route!

The lights and sounds seemed to unsettle the rhino-thing; it glanced around in alarm, although it held its position. Laidi yanked the emergency item out of its case. It was an ax. The weight was unfamiliar in her hands as she clutched it in her arms.

The others were already making a dash for the opening. Yao grabbed Laidi and hoisted her onto his back as he made a break for it too. They had just reached the opening when the birds gave an angry screech, apparently recovering from the alarms. The rhino made a low bugling noise and chased after them. Yao and Laidi had just crossed the threshold of the opening when it slammed into the wall by the hole.

Adrenaline took a hold of the group as they all dashed up the stairs, running for their lives; the emergency red lights were the only source of light. Laidi held fast to the ax, her only weapon. If she lost it, they were defenseless again.

They reached a door and Arthur attempted to open it. "It's locked!" he shouted over the alarm. Ivan stepped up to help him force the door open. After a few seconds of straining, the door gave way with a loud groaning noise. It slammed into the ground, the loud noise echoing down the apparently empty hallway.

The group ran out into the hall. The new hallway was as dimly lit as the capsule room had been before Laidi pulled the alarm. The emergency lights weren't flashing in the hall.

Laidi looked down the stairs. The rhino thing hadn't followed them up. Neither had the birds. Laidi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Francis!" Michelle whispered. Francis was leaning against the wall, clutching his bleeding arm. The sound of ripping cloth startled everyone. Arthur had torn a long strip of cloth off of the bottom of his shirt. He handed it over to Michelle.

"We need to wash it first and disinfect it," Francis protested.

"That can wait. We need to stop the bleeding first," Yao told him. He helped Michelle tie the makeshift bandage around the wound.

Laidi observed her surroundings with watchful eyes as Yao and Michelle fussed over Francis. Kiku was focused on Arthur. Arthur took the ax from Laidi; she gave it up without a fight. Other than the noises the other humans were making, the hallway was completely silent. The hairs on the back of Laidi's neck stood on end. She had a feeling that they were being watched.

"Hey, I think that we should try to get to the control room," Laidi said, keeping her voice low.

"Laidi's right!" Yong Soo said, much too loudly. "We need to get to the control room." The Korean's voice seemed to echo around the room.

"Shut up! Don't speak so loudly!" Laidi hissed.

Yong Soo gave her a hurt look, but Laidi ignored it. "I don't like this," she whispered. "Let's go please."

Michelle cast a worried glance back at Francis. "Are you okay to walk?" she whispered.

Francis' face was pale, but he nodded. "I can walk."

"Then let's go!" Laidi said, eager to be gone, "Before anything else comes for us!"

Yao took Laidi's hand as the group crept along the hall. The dim lights gave an eerie, haunted feel to the abandoned halls. The silence was complete, only broken by the muffled shuffling of their bare feet as they moved along the dusty floors. Clouds of dust rose from the floor and hovered in the air as they passed. The bottoms of their pure white pants had turned dark brown with all the dust and grime they were forced to tread through.

The silence was so complete that they all heard the sound as soon as it started up.

The sound of movement from the next corridor ahead of them made them all freeze. It sounded as if someone was walking towards them, although there was something off about it. The footsteps sounded a bit uneven as if the person was limping slightly.

The group stopped cold, everyone's eyes fixed on the junction of the two hallways ahead. Arthur pulled Kiku close to his side and Ivan readied his pipe and Arthur gripped the ax tightly. None of them were prepared for what came around the corner.

"Sarah?" Laidi gasped.

The redhead turned at the sound of Laidi's voice. A smile spread onto her face. "Hello, darlings!" she called. It was definitely Sarah's voice. "I see you have woken up?" She turned into their hallway and made her way towards them. Her movements were rather jerky, Laidi noticed.

"What is going on here?" Arthur called. "What were those things downstairs?"

Sarah cocked her head to the side. "What things?" she asked.

"Y-You know! Those…things," Michelle replied. Her voice went vague.

Laidi wracked her brain for a better description of the things that attacked her. They were…something. She couldn't quite recall what they were. Her memory was fuzzy… And she found that she was so tired…

"Nothing is wrong," Sarah murmured, now only a few feet away. "Nothing attacked you. All of you come with me now, okay?"

Beside Laidi, Yao took a step forward. She only saw it out of the corner of her eye; she couldn't look away from Sarah. Sarah held out a hand, looking at Arthur, who was closest to her and directly in front of Laidi. Arthur extended his free hand to take hers. Before he could touch her, Laidi dimly registered movement on her right side. A blur shot past her and wrenched the ax from Arthur's other hand. Kiku. Sarah turned to look at Kiku, opening her mouth to say something, but Kiku hurled the ax up into the rafters.

Sarah screamed. Michelle joined her. Laidi jolted as if woken up out of a dream in time to see Ivan running up to Sarah and hacking at the air over her head. Sarah crumpled to the ground, her body held at odd angles, as if she had no bones to support her. Laidi had no time to stare as she became aware of a commotion taking place over their heads. An awful, high pitched keening sound was coming from the rafters, along with the sound of something heavy clanging against the steel beams. The ax fell on the ground in front of Francis, covered in an oozing green substance. Arthur grabbed it and started backing away with the others, all of them staring up over their heads.

"What is that thing?" Yong Soo whispered, dark brown eyes wide with terror.

A few seconds after he spoke, he got his answer.

A huge, grotesque form descended from above. It looked like a combination of a spider and scorpion, with a long, vicious looking stinger. It hovered over Sarah's body and observed its prey with rows of beady eyes that were flashing in the dim lights. Suddenly, it shot a sticky white substance out of its mouth, covering Sarah. The white substance seemed to flow up her body to her head and congeal into almost invisible threads, connected to the spider thing. Once the process was complete, it shot back up into the rafters, leaving a trail of sickly green, bubbling substance behind it.

Sarah shot to her feet and turned to face the horrified group. "Do not be afraid," she said in a low, comforting voice. "Come with me. Come with me."

"Run!" Yao yelled. The group turned and dashed down the hallway that the puppet had come from. Laidi could hear her screaming for them to come back as they pelted through the dark hallways, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the monster as possible.

Ivan, who was in the lead, turned another corner and froze in his tracks. Yao crashed into him and yelped. "Quiet!" Ivan hissed, waving for the others to stop.

Laidi was about to express her desire to keep moving when she heard the sound of someone sobbing. Her stomach sank. _What now?_

"Why? Why is this happening?" a vaguely familiar voice sobbed. "All those innocent people, gone!"

"Liza," Yao whispered, and Laidi recognized her voice too. It was definitely Liza's voice. But now, Liza sounded close to hysterical, instead of the calming presence that Laidi remembered.

"Please, someone help!" Liza cried.

"Don't trust her," Arthur warned. "I highly doubt that it is really her." Just as he said that, a familiar blonde head came around the corner.

It was definitely Liza, or her exact doppelganger. She didn't seem to notice them at first through the tears flowing from her red, swollen eyes. But, she spotted them soon enough.

Liza gave a gasp of delight. "You're alive!" The blonde hurried down the hall, arms reached out. "Yao! Ivan!"

Laidi's eyes widened. She knew their names. Indeed, Liza managed to call everyone's names before she reached them.

Ivan held his pipe up between them. "Do not come any closer, da?" he said threateningly.

"So, I guess you have encountered those…_things_?" Liza said, not coming closer. The blonde wiped at her eyes. "It's awful! They just suddenly appeared out of the experiment lab! I had no idea Oz was doing those kind of experiments!"

"Experiments?" Yao asked. The Chinese took a small step forward, only to be yanked back by Ivan.

"Yes," Liza said, wringing her hands. "So many people are dead already! They even got to the capsule room! Father said everyone in there died! I'm so glad that you are alright!" Liza burst into another round of hysterical sobs. "F-Father didn't m-make it!"

Yao stepped forward and embraced her before anyone could stop him. Liza's thin arms encircled him, and she raised her head as if to whisper into his ear. That was when Laidi noticed the fangs protruding from her mouth.

"YAO!" she screamed, but Ivan was already hacking at the air over her head. Liza dropped to the ground, releasing Yao, who started as if woken up suddenly out of a dream. A hissing sound came from above and Ivan yanked Yao out of the way just as the spider descended. The group turned tail and fled again.

"They know who we are," Francis gasped. "What the hell are these things?"

"Keep moving and stop talking!" Kiku snapped.

Ivan hadn't let go of Yao as they ran. Laidi struggled to keep up with the Russian's longer stride. Up ahead, she spotted a door on the left. "There!" Laidi called, pointing to the door. Ivan led them all over to it and wrenched at the handle. It was unlocked. The group ran inside and closed the door firmly behind them.

"I can't keep running," came Michelle's whisper. The young woman has sunk to the floor and was clutching her pigtails with her knees held up to her chest. "I can't do this. What is going on? I want to go home! Francis!"

"I'm right here, Michelle," Francis said calmly. "Please, do not go into hysterics."

"Y-You're hurt," Michelle gasped. "You're bleeding through the bandage!"

"I've been exerting myself. It is normal," Francis replied, although he was paler than normal. He was indeed bleeding through the bandage wrapped around his wound. "I'm really alright, darling."

"This can't be happening!" Michelle didn't even seem to hear him. She was about to panic, rocking back and forth and shaking her head violently. "I want to go home!"

Laidi knelt down beside Michelle and smacked her across the face. Francis yelped and grabbed Laidi's hand. Michelle stared at Laidi with wide eyes, stunned.

"That actually works," Laidi said, surprised. She pulled her hand away from Francis and gently coaxed Michelle's hands out of her hair. "Sorry I had to do that," she said as soothingly as she could. "Please calm down."

Michelle wrapped her arms around Laidi and pulled her to her chest, whimpering. Laidi's breath whooshed out as Michelle held her tightly and shook.

"Francis, we need to stop your bleeding," Michelle said in a much calmer voice.

"Maybe we can find a first aid kit?" Yong Soo suggested.

"I doubt you would find one of those in here," Kiku said in a strange voice. "Look around."

Armor. Rows upon rows of suits of armor, as far as the eye could see. They were in another long hallway, but this one was filled with suits of armor lined up against the walls. There were complete suits of armor from many nations, all with weapons. The hallway continued and stretched out of sight.

"We really were to be used as human weapons," Laidi whispered as she stared at the suits of armor.

Kiku was walking a bit down the line, examining the pieces. "I wonder if I could find a katana?" he mused.

"I'm sure there is one somewhere in here," Arthur replied, walking down the opposite line to look.

"Can you use one of the other swords?" Yong Soo asked Kiku. The Korean lifted a sword from the nearest suit and brought it to Kiku.

Kiku frowned as he weighed the sword. "It is much too heavy. I couldn't fight effectively," he explained. "I'm used to something more lightweight."

"Oi! I think I found one!" Arthur said excitedly. Kiku turned back to him and took a step towards him. That was as far as he got.

The Japanese jerked suddenly and fell down with a startled cry. The suits of armor on either side of him crashed to the ground, revealing a giant, lizard-like creature. It's long, spiked tongue was wrapped around Kiku's left ankle. It quickly retreated, dragging Kiku with it. Yao yelled and leaped forward, but Yong Soo was faster. The tall Korean shot forward and brought the sword down on the monster's tongue, severing the thick muscle. The giant lizard reared, blood spurting from its stump of a tongue while the severed appendage writhed like a snake on the floor, still wrapped around Kiku's ankle. Kiku rolled to his feet and grabbed the katana that Arthur threw at him before running straight at the wounded monster.

The lizard regained its senses just in time to dodge Kiku's swipe at its neck. It was extremely fast and agile. Lethally sharp fangs protruded from its mouth as it lunged at Kiku. Kiku let the beast's momentum work against it as he guided the katana into the monster's mouth. The monster impaled itself on the weapon and it gave a final cry before collapsing, taking a few more suits of armor with it.

Kiku collapsed onto the ground and gripped his ankle, the monster's tongue still embedded in his flesh. "It is burning," he said through gritted teeth. Arthur was kneeling beside him in a second, holding a dagger. He used it to carefully saw off the tongue. As soon as it was gone, Kiku's wound gushed blood. Kiku ripped off one of his sleeves and wrapped it around the gash.

"Can you stand? Can you walk?" Arthur asked. He helped Kiku to his feet. Kiku took a few tentative steps, wincing the entire time, but nodded. He retrieved his katana from the reptile's mouth. It came away covered in hot, thick, black blood.

"I think its tongue might have been coated in acid," Kiku observed. "My ankle is burning like it was on fire."

"Is it going numb?" Yao asked, looking worried. "Is the burning spreading?"

"No, it is only affecting my wound, it seems," Kiku replied, his face pinched in pain.

"We need that first aid kit," Arthur said firmly.

"Oi! Francis is hurt too, you know!" Michelle snapped.

"Michelle, don't," Francis told her. "I think we all have scrapes and bruises, some more than others."

"Does anyone else feel like they are about to die of starvation?" Laidi piped up. As if on cue, her stomach gave a loud, long grumble. A few chuckles were forced out amongst the group.

"It is one of the side effects of the drug we were under, remember, ma cheri?" Michelle reminded her. "We get really hungry when we wake up."

"Yeah, I remember. I just haven't noticed it until now," Laidi murmured. She patted her empty belly and winced as it gave another cry.

"Well, everyone grab a weapon," Arthur said briskly. The Briton had unearthed a crossbow and a sheath of metal arrows from somewhere.

Laidi cast her eyes around and ended up with two daggers. Yao grabbed a short sword. Everyone tried to be quiet about getting their weapons, but a few clangs were heard every now and again.

Armed, the group set out again, creeping quietly on the dusty floor, ears attuned for the slightest hint of another monster. If there were any more in the vicinity, they were being very quiet.

"There is another room ahead," Francis pointed out. Laidi squinted in the awful lighting. There was something written on it.

"Supply Room?" Yong Soo said slowly. He turned to the others excitedly. "I think it says 'supply room!'"

"I think you're right," Kiku said. The Japanese was limping now, with Arthur acting as a crutch.

Ivan tried the door. This one was also unlocked. It was pitch dark inside, but once Ivan cautiously walked in, automatic lights flicked on, giving them the first bright light Laidi had seen since they had woken up.

It was definitely a supply room. There were dozens of heavyweight backpacks lining the walls along with racks of what appeared to be dark green uniforms or varying sizes. Everything in the room looked pretty sturdy. But that was not all; someone had been here recently.

"I think there may be humans who escaped the capsule room before us," Yao observed. This room had its fair share of dust, but some of it had been disturbed. Some of the uniforms were hanging off of their hangers or strewn about the room. Wrappers of some kind were lying in a nearby trashcan. The dust had faint human footprints in it.

"I found food!" Yong Soo squealed. He was holding up dried foods, the kind that just requires hot water.

"Excellent! And there are several first aid kits too!" Laidi pointed out, rifling through some of the military-grade backpacks. She pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and tossed it to Arthur. "Here is another for Francis."

"The smell is really…strong," Arthur pointed out, wincing at the smell. Laidi could smell it from her position too. It smelled like it had fermented for a while. "Is it safe to use?"

"Just do it," Kiku said, removing his makeshift bandage. Arthur hesitantly poured the disinfectant on the wound. Kiku bit down on his arm to keep from making a sound as the liquid made contact with his wound. Arthur patted it dry with his shirt before pouring more disinfectant on Kiku. Michelle was doing the same to Francis.

"Your back was scratched," Yao reminded Arthur. "I'll pour some on you when you are done."

"Do you think we could change into those?" Michelle asked, indicating the uniforms.

"Who would we ask permission from?" Ivan pointed out. He riffled through the uniforms, trying to find one his size.

"Would they have one to fit me?" Laidi asked. She was the shortest in the group.

"They look like they are arranged by size," Yao pointed out. He pointed to corner by the door, where there were indeed some smaller uniforms. Laidi drifted over to look while Yao tended Arthur. She quickly found one her size and held it up to her body.

"Ivan! Do not strip!" Michelle snapped.

Ivan had shrugged out of his white shirt and was trying on a uniform top. The Russian rolled his violet eyes. "I did not know that you were so innocent," he responded while buttoning up the shirt.

"It_ is_ indecent," Kiku agreed with Michelle. Arthur had finished with his ankle, which was now tightly wrapped in a bandage that Arthur had found in a backpack. He was also holding a uniform.

Michelle flounced over to Laidi and grabbed her hand. "We'll go change around the corner," she suggested and tugged Laidi out of sight of the others. Once alone, Michelle slipped out of her own top. "Those boys shouldn't have to see us change," she said, pulling the uniform on over her head. Laidi could hear the boys changing from around the corner. She began to strip her dirty clothes off as well. When she removed her shirt, a piece of paper fell to the floor. Laidi bent and picked it up. It was the picture of their family. The sight of her parents' smiling faces was enough to rend her heart all over again, and she placed the picture into the pocket of her uniform before pulling the shirt over her head. The last thing she needed at the moment was to break down anew over their deaths.

Michelle finished first and made sure that the boys were done before returning to the group. Laidi moved to join her when she felt an icy cold blade rest against her neck. She gave a chocked off shriek before her head was wrenched back and the knife moved to her Adam's apple. She found herself staring into crimson colored eyes framed by messy white hair.

"Laidi?" she heard Yao call, fear in his voice. "Are you alright?"

"Stay where you are," the man holding Laidi said in a hoarse voice. He pushed Laidi around the corner, keeping his knife held to her throat. He released the grip on her hair, but held her shoulders to keep her from escaping. "None of you move an inch, or I will slit her throat."

"Laidi, no!" Yao gasped. "Let her go!"

Laidi could feel the man holding her shaking. The knife at her throat was unsteady. She felt the need to swallow, but didn't dare, terrified the knife would cut her. Already, she could feel a thin trickle of blood running down her neck from the knife cutting into her skin. Laidi met her brother's terrified golden eyes.

The strange man drew in a breath. "What are you?" he asked in a low, shaking voice.

* * *

**If you want a vague image of what the birds look like, then look up the Pokémon Archeops and imagine that it has spikes on its tail and more pointy teeth in its beak. Also, the color is a dark green. As for the rhino, just imagine a grey rhino with saber tooth fangs and a long, thick tail like a lizard's. The spiders look like Shelob from **_**The Return of the King (The Two Towers**_** if you are going by the books). As for the last monster, take a komodo dragon, make it dark green, give it short, pointy horns on its head, make it as big as a horse, and give it fangs and a long tongue.**

**Reviews are love!**


	3. Survivors

"What the hell are you doing? Let her go!" Yao begged in a hoarse whisper. His golden eyes were wide with fear as he held his hand out towards Laidi as if he could pull her out of her captor's grip.

The albino did nothing except adjust his grip on Laidi, cutting into her neck even more. "What are you?" he asked again.

"Humans! Like you!" Michelle whispered. She clutched Francis' hand.

"You're the one who has been in this room before us?" Laidi asked, trying to distract the man.

"Shut up!" the albino snapped. "Not a sound out of you!" He gave Laidi a firm shake in warning.

"Wait, Gilbert," a second voice, this one a woman's, ordered from behind them.

Laidi couldn't see the newcomer from her position, but the voice sounded extremely familiar.

Yao's face went blank with shock. "Mei?" he asked, stunned. "Is that you?"

"_Yao_?" the newcomer gasped.

"You know them?" another new voice, also female, asked.

"Um, he's my cousin," Mei's voice responded.

"And _he_ has Laidi," Yao snapped, pointing at Laidi's captor.

There was the sound of footsteps and suddenly a familiar face appeared in front of Laidi. Mei was much paler and drawn than Laidi remembered her, but it was most certainly her. She was wearing the same uniform that Laidi and the others had been changing into.

"Nice to see you again, Mei," Laidi said in a calm, emotionless voice. "I would hug you, but I get the feeling if I move, the albino here would cut my throat."

"You're right about that. How do I know you are not a monster in disguise?" The albino nodded to the other members of Laidi's group.

"They have black blood on them," Mei piped up, pointing at the black stains on Kiku's shirt. "Those creatures have back blood. They've been killing the monsters."

"I also see red on some of them," the second female voice said. She stepped into view. The stranger was a tall woman with long brown hair and piercing green eyes. She put an arm around Mei protectively and pulled her out of Laidi's line of vision.

"Yeah, the red blood could be from a human that they killed," the albino said.

"One way to find out," the woman said and grabbed Laidi's hand. She drew a knife from her belt and cut a gash into Laidi's palm before anyone could react. Laidi yelped in pain and Yao gave an angry shout, which the woman ignored. The albino hissed at Yao to be quiet. The woman was examining Laidi's palm, squeezing the skin around the wound so that Laidi's blood flowed to the surface. "She bleeds red," the woman said in obvious relief.

The albino immediately let go of her, and Laidi stumbled towards Mei, cradling her hurt hand to her chest. Mei pulled her into a tight embrace. Laidi heard the other woman telling the man to check the others. Laidi pulled away from Mei and turned to face the woman.

"How do I know that _you guys_ aren't monsters?" she snapped.

Without hesitating or flinching, the girl cut into her own palm. Red blood beaded on the surface of her skin. Wordlessly, she held her hand out for Laidi's inspection. The albino did the same before grabbing Yao's hand. Mei let go of Laidi and likewise cut into her palm.

"You're all clean," the woman said with relief when they all had been checked. "Warp your wounds; they can smell blood." Yao ignored the woman and dashed over to Mei, hugging her tightly and pulling Laidi into the hug as well.

"I'm sorry about your parents," Mei whispered, clinging to Yao and Laidi. "I couldn't come to the funeral."

"It doesn't matter," Yao told her firmly, shaking his head.

"So you all woke up too?" the brunette asked. She was examining Francis' wounded arm.

"When did you wake up?" Arthur asked her.

The girl shrugged. "It's hard to tell. Two days? Three? A week? I have no idea. It's all the same, down here."

"Did just you three wake up?" Yao asked.

Mei let out a little whimper. "No," was all she said.

"There were eight of us as well," the albino elaborated. "The rest of us are all dead."

"Oh," Yao winced. "I'm so sorry."

Gilbert shook his head brusquely. "It's not your fault," he said. "Drop it."

"I'm Elizaveta by the way," the girl said. "The albino is Gilbert. And some of you seem to already know Mei," she nodded her head towards Mei as she said this.

Laidi hugged Mei tightly while the others were introducing themselves. She remembered that Mei always had a flowery smell about her. Now, she smelled like blood. The strong girl Laidi remembered was actually trembling, whether from fear or hunger, Laidi did not know. Maybe it was both.

"I see you have your own battle scar there," Gilbert said to Kiku, nodding at his injured leg. He pointed to a chair. "Sit down there, and I'll take care of it."

Kiku sat down. "I think that thing had some sort of acid coating its tongue," Kiku told him as Gilbert started to unwrap the bandages. "It still burns, even after we've put peroxide on it."

Gilbert rolled up his right sleeve, revealing a mark similar to Kiku's. "Got my own right here," he chuckled. "Those bastards definitely have some sort of poison. Peroxide didn't help me, either. But I know something that works!" Gilbert lifted Kiku's leg up and spat on the wound. Kiku raised an eyebrow as Gilbert started spreading his saliva around the purpling wound. "Human spit breaks up the poison, from what I have experienced," Gilbert explained. Arthur knelt next to Gilbert and spat on his own hand to help. Kiku grimaced but didn't protest.

"I didn't even know you two were brought here too," Mei was saying. Her tight grip on Laidi had not lessened. Laidi gently tugged free, but took Mei's hand instead and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Mei squeezed back. "It all happened so fast, I didn't even think to call you."

"We didn't either," Yao replied. "At least you are alright."

"She is not 'alright,'" Gilbert snapped. "None of us are."

Yao shot him an irritated glare. "She is alive," he snapped back.

"Maybe not for long," Gilbert shot back.

"Stop it!" Francis spoke up. He had an arm around Michelle's shoulders. The girl was visibly trembling. Laidi let go of Mei and walked over to Michelle. She took the dark skinned girl's hand and squeezed reassuringly. Michelle drew her into the hug as well. "We don't need to be fighting."

"Yeah, we need a way out of here," Yong Soo agreed. "And a way to get my sister out of the wall."

"The wall?" Elizaveta asked. "Oh. Do you mean the capsule room? Wasn't your sister in your division? They said that they wouldn't separate families."

"No, she was not in my division," Yong Soo told her. "She was still in her capsule when we escaped the room. We need to find Winter's computer; he said that only his computer could open the capsules."

"Those monsters must have found it then," Arthur said. He and Gilbert were wrapping Kiku's wound back up. It looked much better now, and Kiku's face wasn't pinched in pain anymore.

"You're lucky you found this place when you did," Gilbert announced. He pulled a rolled up piece of paper from his uniform. "We found a map of the place."

"Awesome!" Yong Soo crowed excitedly. He sat on the ground next to Gilbert.

"I know I am!" Gilbert chuckled.

"I can probably hack into the computer when we find it," Yong Soo told him.

"Excellent!" Gilbert said before unrolling the map. Laidi shifted closer so that she could see. The map was a fire escape plan. "From what I can tell," Gilbert began, "We are somewhere in this area." He tapped a section of the building on the map. "And the control room is way over here," he tapped another place, about five sections away from them. "It seemed that most of the facility was underground," Gilbert explained. "The mansion aboveground was just for show. Now, we have to get to the control room and find a staircase to the next level, which should be on ground level, or close to it."

"Aye," Arthur agreed, tracing the area where the control room lay on the map. "And we have to avoid all of those monsters. I suppose if you survived this long, you all know how to fight well?"

Gilbert huffed. "Of course I do!" he snapped. "I am an ex-soldier!"

"We can all defend ourselves," Elizaveta said. "I supposed the lot of you can, as well?"

"Yes," Yao spoke up. "We can."

"So, are we going to the control room?" Yong Soo piped up. "We should hurry before those things have a chance to open any more capsules."

Laidi glanced up at Yong Soo. The Korean's friendly face was lined with worry for his sister.

"Yeah, we need to get out of here quickly," Elizaveta agreed. "Before those monsters come back."

"Have they found you in here?" Laidi asked her.

Elizaveta nodded, her face tight. "We left the body of one of or friends in there." Elizaveta pointed to a closet. "We weren't planning on coming back, but we decided to take more food. When we came back, the door to the closet was open. Bella was gone. There were not even bones left of her."

"Could she still be alive?" Ivan asked.

Elizaveta shook her head. "With her throat torn out? I do not think so," she said dryly. "She had no pulse when we left her. The closet had been forced open from the outside. They know we have been here, or are still here. We need to leave now."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Francis asked quietly. "Let us leave."

Gilbert rolled up the map and stood up. "Don't tell me what to do," he said. "Grab the rest of the food before we leave."

Laidi helped Mei, Ivan, and Arthur fill up several of the military issue backpacks with packets of dry food and powdered drinks while the others gathered weapons. There was a stash of combat knives along with a dozen or so handguns. Laidi had never fired a gun before, but she did manage to unearth a couple packs of dynamite and box of matches, along with a couple of firecrackers. Yao rolled his eyes at the excited look on her face but did not protest her adamant demand that she be allowed to take them with her.

"Alright, let's go," Gilbert finally said, jerking his head towards the corner where he had appeared from. Around the corner, another door was propped open, leading into darkness. Elizaveta handed out flashlights to everyone.

The group went completely silent as they exited the supply room and ventured out into the hall. Only half of the group had their flashlights on. The beams illuminated the dark, dusty corridor. They were following a trail through the grimy floor. Gilbert and the others must have come this way before.

Laidi was focused intently on her surroundings, ears pricked for any sign of trouble. She followed closely after Mei as they walked, listening hard for any sound that differed from their almost silent footsteps. Suddenly, under the sound of their footsteps and the shifting dust, she heard a sound.

It was a slow sliding sound, as if something was pulling itself across the floor.

"Gilbert!" Laidi hissed in a whisper. Gilbert, in the lead, glanced back at her. Laidi held her hand up in a gesture that they should stop. Gilbert frowned, but halted. Laidi crept up to him and motioned behind them. "I heard something," she explained in a whisper.

Gilbert walked to the rear, closely followed by Elizaveta, and shined his light back down the hallway. The light illuminated a pair of eyes that were close to the ground. Before anybody could react, something dropped down on them from above.

Mei screamed as a huge, lizard-like monster dropped down in the midst of them. The creature hissed, revealing long, dagger-like teeth, and made for Ivan and Yao, who were closest. Kiku brought his sword down on its neck, severing the head from the body. There were shouts as more of the creatures ran at them from the shadows.

"Attack the heads!" Kiku yelled, slicing off another's head.

Laidi danced out of the way of one of the monsters that ran towards her. She withdrew one of her knives and drove it through the lizard's neck. It dropped dead instantly.

"Everyone, down the hall!" Gilbert howled. Laidi glanced up to see him motioning the others down the hallway, away from the lizards. Yao grabbed Laidi's shoulder and yanked her along. The monsters followed after in hot pursuit.

Getting an idea, Laidi abruptly pulled away from Yao and drew the firecrackers from her pocket. She quickly lit a match and lit the firecrackers, throwing them at the lizards like a grenade.

Several of the monsters stopped to check out the explosive while the others continued chasing them. Laidi backpedaled quickly and dashed after the group just as the firecrackers went off. The firecrackers weren't enough to kill any of the monsters, but Laidi hoped that they would be enough to startle them. She heard several cries behind them and the sound of the monsters retreating. Laidi glanced back to see about half of the horde retreating from the still exploding firecrackers. The other half, however, climbed up the walls and continued chasing after the humans.

"They're still coming!" Laidi called in warning.

Gilbert suddenly stopped and drew a gun from its holster at his waist. He fire three shots at the advancing horde, killing three of them. The rest paused, hissing at their retreating prey. The gun only managed to stop them for a few moments before they advanced again.

"Up ahead on your right!" Elizaveta yelled. "There is a door!"

Arthur got to the door first and yanked it open. He held it for everyone before slamming it shut after Gilbert ran inside.

"Can it lock?" Francis asked, rushing over and helping Arthur hold the door shut. Elizaveta turned the locking mechanism and everyone backed away from the door, panting. Laidi could hear the lizard monsters hissing on the other side of the door. It sounded like they were crawling over the floor and walls right outside of it. Suddenly, the handle started to jingle.

"Everyone against the far wall," Gilbert ordered. He and Elizaveta stood in the center of the room, guns at the ready. Ivan, Arthur, and Francis joined them.

The handle continued to shake violently for what seemed like forever. Finally, it stopped.

"Move everything you can in front of the doors. Make a barricade," Elizaveta murmured. They were in an office of some sort. Laidi helped Ivan and Michelle push a desk in front of the door, while Yao and Yong Soo moved chairs in front of it.

"This is not going to help if they can climb the walls," Ivan pointed out.

"Pray that it will disorient them for a moment," Elizaveta replied. "That is all the time we need."

The group stayed silent after that. There was more movement on the other side of the door, and more hissing. Laidi cocked her head to the side as she listened to it. It sounded like the monsters' hissing noises were their speech. So, they could communicate intelligently with each other. Suddenly, all sounds stopped outside of the door.

"Did they go away?" Yong Soo whispered. His question was answered when there was a sliding sound. Gilbert shined his light onto the door. One of the lizards' tongues was sliding up the door, towards the lock. Kiku stepped forward and cut the tongue in half. There was a shriek from the other side of the door and then silence. Suddenly, three or four of the tongue slid under the door. Several of them shot out and started searching for targets inside of the room. Kiku and Yao hacked at the tongues before they could touch anybody. Just as Kiku sliced the last one that came at him, there was a click of the lock turning. While the other monsters were distracting the humans, one of the tongues had unlocked the door.

"Clever bastards," Gilbert said appraisingly as the door opened. Due to the desk blocking it, the door could not open far. However, the lizards managed to squeeze through the crack and climb the walls. Gilbert, Elizaveta, and Arthur took them out one at a time as the monsters came in. The monsters could only come in one or two at a time. Finally, all of the monsters lay dead.

"No one move yet," Gilbert warned. The albino hopped up onto the desk and stuck his head out into the hall. He pulled back in after a moment. "The coast is clear," he said to sighs of relief. He hopped back down and helped Ivan move the barricade out of the way. "Let's go," he said once the way out was cleared.

The group filed out into the hall, casting wary glances around them. "Nice thinking using those firecrackers," Elizaveta told Laidi as they started off again. The firecrackers lay smoldering down the hallway. Laidi nodded in response before tuning her ears to her surroundings again.

"We should not be too far away now," Gilbert murmured as they turned a corner into another hallway. At the end of this hallway was a door. "That should be the entrance to the block of the building with the control room. We're almost there."

They made it to the door without encountering any more monsters. However, the door was firmly locked. Yao had to kick it down, the sounds of his powerful kicks echoing down the hall. Finally, the door lay on the ground.

"You probably just told the entire building where we are," Gilbert grumbled.

"Hey, you're the one who asked me to kick it down!" Yao snapped in a whisper.

"You volunteered!" Gilbert hissed back.

"Stop it," Mei intervened. "Your arguing is getting us nowhere." Mei grabbed Laidi's hand and flounced past Yao and Gilbert, dragging Laidi behind her.

The rest of the way to the control room went smoothly as well. Laidi kept casting looks around herself, her fear and nervousness growing the farther they made it. Why weren't any more monsters appearing? She doubted that they had killed all of them. Where were they?

"This is it," Gilbert suddenly spoke up. He pointed to a door ahead of them, with the words "Control Center" written on it in fading black letters.

Yong Soo and Kiku listened at the door for a good minute while the others stood guard in the hall. Finally, Kiku shook his head.

"I can't hear anything in there," he told the rest. Kiku tried the door and found that it was locked.

"Hmm. You need a pass code to get into this room," Yong Soo observed, dusting off a key pad on the wall next to the door. The letters shone dimly in the darkness. Yong Soo quickly pressed in an eight-digit code. The door smoothly opened.

"How the hell did you do that?!" Gilbert hissed in amazement.

Yong Soo turned back around and beamed at the group. "I hacked into the instructor's computer, remember?" he asked excitedly. "She had the pass codes stored in her memory. I got a glimpse of them before she kicked me off the computer."

"Excellent!" Laidi giggled, giving Yong Soo a high-five.

"Nice!" Mei agreed, beaming at the Korean.

"Yeah, yeah, good job kid," Gilbert muttered. "Now, move your ass and let us in." He pushed past Yong Soo into the room. Elizaveta rolled her eyes.

"He's just jealous that you were able to do it so quickly," she explained, patting Yong Soo on the back.

The control room had automatic lighting. Once Gilbert walked in, the lights came on. The room was filled with rows and rows of computers, all of them grimy with dust. Some of the lights on the computers were flickering, indicating that they were on.

"This place really must be run on nuclear energy," Laidi observed. "The computers are still on after all this time."

"How much time has passed, though?" Michelle asked, standing next to Laidi. The dark skinned girl was looking around in wonder.

"I can find that out easily!" Yong Soo said. He sat down in front of one of the computers. "Someone bring me Winter's laptop. I'll go ahead and check the date on this computer, or at least how long it has been since someone else logged on."

Laidi glanced around. She remembered that Winter had a laptop that he said only he could log on to. It was a bulky, black thing that probably weighed fifteen pounds from the look of it. She could not spot it right away. She started going down the aisles, looking for it. Would Winter have even kept it in this room?

"I found it!" came Elizaveta's excited call. Laidi ran over to her, relief coursing through her veins. At least they did not have to look through the entire facility to find it. Sure enough, Elizaveta was holding the bulky laptop. Ivan hurried over and took it from her.

"Excellent!" Gilbert was saying. The rest of the group crowed around. The green light on the top right corner of the keyboard indicated that the machine was running. When Elizaveta jiggled the attached mouse, the screen showed a log in page. Yong Soo would have to hack into it, then.

"Hey, Korean, we found it!" Gilbert called. There was no response. Frowning, Laidi dashed over to Yong Soo's computer. The Korean was staring at the screen, his face ashen. Laidi gently touched his shoulder and he jolted.

"What is wrong?" Laidi asked quietly. She heard the others filing in at her back.

Yong Soo slowly looked up at the group. His eyes showed shock.

"What is it?" Elizaveta asked, putting her hand on Yong Soo's shoulder.

The Korean shook his head slowly. "The last time someone logged into this computer was in the year 2106," he said quietly.

Laidi's eyes widened as she realized what Yong Soo said. They had gone to sleep in the year 2015. "We slept for almost a century?" she gasped.

Yong Soo shook his head again. "More like almost five hundred years," he said. Yong Soo pointed a shaking finger to the date on the computer. It was July 22, year 2502.

Laidi sank onto the seat beside Yong Soo, her legs no longer able to keep her standing. Her mind went numb from shock. She tried to grasp the idea that they had been asleep for five hundred years. She felt dizzy. The rest of the group was silent as they took this new information in. Yao laid a shaking hand on Laidi's shoulder.

The absolute silence was suddenly broken by a sharp sound. A single pair of hands was clapping slowly. But, none of them were moving. Something else was in the room with them.

Laidi and Yong Soo jumped to their feet, immediately on guard. The rest of the group drew weapons and faced the direction that the clapping was coming from.

President Winter stood on a raised platform in the center of the room.

"Excellent, excellent, all of you," he cried, still clapping. A huge smile was on his face. "Outstanding! You all passed the test!"

* * *

**That was a bit of a shorter chapter. Please forgive me for not updating sooner! I have been extremely busy with college. However, the semester is almost over (I have finals this week) and after that I can write more. I promise to try to update this and my other fics more frequently than I have been. I feel awful not updating for long periods of time. I do not like to keep you waiting!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! The next one will be out much sooner, I promise! In the meantime, lease leave a review!**


	4. The Dream Must End

**This chapter is going to be a lot shorter compared to the others. But, I got it out more quickly than the others. The next chapter will be longer, I promise.**

* * *

Laidi's whole body was as tense as a drawn bowstring. She couldn't take her eyes off of the figure on the platform.

Winter stopped clapping, but that wide grin was still on his face. "Congratulations, all of you," he called again, dismounting from the platform and making his way over to the wary group. "You have passed my test!"

"What test?" Elizaveta called. The brunette trained her gun on the approaching figure. "What is going on?"

"Don't come any closer," Gilbert added.

Winter stopped and raised his hands, still smiling happily. "Peace. You do not have to fear me," he said. "I am human. This has all been a test, which you have passed."

"You keep mentioning a 'test,'" Yong Soo said. The Korean shifted, holding his knives up higher. "How do we know that you are not one of them? You could be controlled by one of those spider-things." As he said this, Yong Soo glanced up at the ceiling as if to check for any sign of the monsters. Laidi glanced up with him, but could see nothing out of the ordinary on the stark white ceilings.

Winter, still smiling, drew a knife from a sheath at his belt. Before anyone could react, he passed the knife over his head several times. "I am not a puppet," he told them. "I have no strings. I am human."

"Humph," Ivan grunted before lunging forward. He passed his pipe firmly over Winter's head twice. Nothing happened.

"See? No strings," Winter said amiably, sheathing his knife.

"Show us your blood, and maybe we'll believe you," Elizaveta retorted. She hadn't lowered her gun an inch.

Winter took his knife and sliced deeply into his palm. Red blood flowed to the surface. He held his hand up for their inspection.

The group seemed to let out a collective sigh of relief at the sight of the red blood. Everyone lowered their weapons; even Elizaveta and Gilbert lowered their guns, albeit more reluctantly than the others.

"What the hell is going on here?" Yao asked. The Chinese man's voice was shaking. "What have you done? What were those… monsters?"

Winter motioned for them to take a seat. No one moved. Finally, he sighed. "This was all a test to prove your strength," he explained. "Only the strongest of you would be able to survive in Oz's new world. I had to test you to see which of you could make it this far." The man beamed at them. "And you all passed!" he said brightly.

"And what of the others?" Elizaveta barked. The girl's green eyes were on fire with suppressed anger. "You've killed people!"

"They would have died anyway," Winter said with a flippant wave of his hand.

"You monster," Mei whispered. "Those were our friends!"

"They would not have survived," Winter insisted, shrugging off the insults. "It is a different world outside than when you left it."

"Speaking of that, how much time has really passed?" Yong Soo asked. "How long have we been asleep?"

"Six months," Winter said. "It took us some time to set up the arena and to make the setting look convincing.

_The arena,_ Laidi thought bitterly. _He made us fight like gladiators against awful beasts for his own enjoyment._ She glared at the man with pure hatred, her hands shaking from where they were fisted at her sides.

"How could you do this?" Yao asked, his voice shaking. "How do you sleep at night with the blood of those people on your conscious?"

"As I said, only the strongest may serve me," Winter replied.

"Where are the others?" Kiku asked. "Where are the other Oz personnel? What have you done with them?"

"There are waiting outside," Winter explained. "They are all safe." Winter gestured to the door. "Let us go out and meet them, shall we? Follow me, and I will show you the way outside."

"Wait," Laidi said. She moved to the front of the group. "Let me ask you a few questions first, to make sure that you are telling us the truth and that you are who you say you are."

Winter smiled and knelt on the floor so that she was looking down at him, treating her like a child. Normally, Laidi would have been offended at the insult to her height, but she decided to let it pass today.

"What are your questions, child?" he asked.

Laidi scowled. "First of all, I'm not a child!" she snapped. My first question is, what were those monsters?"

Winter did not seem to be fazed by her tone of voice as he answered. "The 'monsters,' as you called them, were genetic experiments that we bred in the Oz laboratory. We have been experimenting with cross-breeding and genetic mutation for decades. Those beasts were the result of all of our research. We set them loose in the arena in order to test all of you. There are many more to replace the ones that you have killed."

Laidi tried not to think of what would happen if Winter set those monsters loose on the rest of the world. That was probably his plan. "Second: what happens now that we have woken up? You said that this was all just a test, didn't you? What happens now that we have passed?"

Winter beamed like a proud father. "You will join my army," he told her. "You will start making a difference in the world."

Laidi shifted. "Third," she continued. "You said that the world was different from when we went to sleep. What did you mean by that?"

Winter looked sad. "As I predicted, a great war has broken out. World War 3. The world is changing. I mean to be a part of that change, for the better."

"Alright, last question," Laidi said. She took a deep breath. So far, none of Winter's answers had sounded suspicious. This one would hopefully reveal whether or not this person was a fraud. "On our first day at Oz headquarters, you put a woman to sleep and woke her up on the day that you put us to sleep. You did it to 'set out minds at ease.' What was the woman's name and where is she now?"

"The woman's name is Marianne Jenkins," Winter replied smoothly. "She is outside, with the other Oz personnel, waiting for all of you. Is that all? Now, why don't you come with me-?"

In one swift motion, Laidi drew her knife and held it up to Winter's throat. She ignored the shouts of shock that came from behind her as she stared into Winter's black eyes. "So you _are_ one of them," she snarled.

* * *

**Again, I am sorry for posting such a short chapter. I am in the midst of finals week, so I can't write hardly at all (I'm actually supposed to be doing something else right now ha-ha). I will be done with finals on Thursday (Yay!). I will be able to write more after that. Again, I promise that the next chapter will be longer than this one.**


End file.
